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in  2012  with  funding  from 

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VIKING    TALES 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


PRESENTED  BY 


Elizabeth  C-  Baity 
Estate 


00007122909 


►W  iolwfai. 


Hq\I 


lllutstrcite-cl  6y 

VICTOR-R- 
LAMBDIN 


RAND;M?NALLY&OQ 

Chicago  •  Ne volorA:  •  London 


Copyright,  1Q02, 
By  Jennie  Hall 


t**  Table  ^Contents 


PAGE 

A  List  of  the  Illustrations 8 

What  the  Sagas  Were 9 

Part  I. 

IN  NORWAY 

The  Baby       15 

The  Tooth-thrall 19 

Olaf's  Farm 27 

Olaf's  Fight  with  Havard 40 

Foes'-fear 47 

Harald  is  King       53 

Harald's  Battle 62 

Gyda's  Saucy  Message 71 

The  Sea  Fight 81 

King  Harald's  Wedding 89 

King  Harald  Goes  West-Over-Seas 95 

Part  II. 
WEST-OVER-SEAS 

Homes  in  Iceland 103 

Eric  the  Red 143 

Leif  and  His  New  Land 161 

Wineland  the  Good 174 

Descriptive  Notes 194 


List  of  the  Illustrations; 


PAGE 

A  map  showing  the  journeys  of  the  Vikings  .  Frontispiece 
"I  own    this    baby  for   my   son.     He   shall   be    called 

liar  aid'' 17 

"He   threw   back   his  cape  and  drew  a  little  dagger 

from  his  belt "         22 

"I  struck  my  shield  against  the  door  so  that  it  made 

a  great  clanging  " 31 

"Then  he  turned  to  the  shore  and  sang  out  loudly"  ,       45 

"He  drove  it  into  the  wolfs  neck" ,       51 

"I  vow  that  I  will  grind  my  father's  foes  under  my 

heel" 59 

"King  Haki  fell  dead  under  '  Foes'  fear  '  "  ....  68 
"I  will  not  be  his  wife  unless  he  puts  all  of  Norway 

under  him  for  my  sake  " 73 

"Then  he  leaped  into  King  Arnvid's  boat"  ....  S7 
"I,  Harald,  King  of  Norway,  take  you,  Gyda,for  my 

wife" 91 

"I>i   Norway  they  left   burning   houses   and  weeping 

women  "      .     .  97 

"Then  he  saw  that  Lcif's  ship  was  being  driven  afar 

off" "•     •     125 

"Those  Icelanders  clapped  them  on  the  shoulders  "  .  137 
"He  looked  straight  ahead  of  him  and  scowled"  .  .  145 
"More  than  half  the  men  in  the  hall  jumped  to  tiieir 

feet" 147 

"It  is  a  bigger  boat  than  I  ever  saw  before"  .  .  .  153 
"He  pointed  to  the  woods  and  laughed  and  rolled  his 

eyes" 167 

"The  chief  held  them  out  to  Thorfinn  and  hugged  the 

cloak  to  him  " 187 


What  t»e  Sagas  Were 


ICELAND  is  a  little  country  far  north 
in  the  cold  sea.  Men  found  it  and 
went  there  to  live  more  than  a  thousand 
years  ago.  During  the  warm  season  they 
used  to  fish  and  make  fish-oil  and  hunt 
sea-birds  and  gather  feathers  and  tend 
their  sheep  and  make  hay.  But  the  win- 
ters were  long  and  dark  and  cold.  Men 
and  women  and  children  stayed  in  the 
house  and  carded  and  spun  and  wove 
and  knit.  A  whole  family  sat  for  hours 
around  the  fire  in  the  middle  of  the  room. 
That  fire  gave  the  only  light.  Shadows 
flitted  in  the  dark  corners.  Smoke  curled 
along  the  high  beams  in  the  ceiling. 
The  children  sat  on  the  dirt  floor  close 
by  the  fire.  The  grown  people  were  on  a 
long  narrow  bench  that  they  had  pulled 
up  to  the  light  and  warmth.  Everybody's 
hands  were  busy  with  wool.  The  work 
left  their  minds  free  to  think  and  their 
lips  to  talk.  What  was  there  to  talk 
about  ?  The  summer's  fishing,  the  kill- 
ing of  a  fox,  a  voyage  to  Norway.     But 


io  Viking  Tales 

the  people  grew  tired  of  this  little  gos- 
sip. Fathers  looked  at  their  children 
and  thought: 

"They  are  not  learning  much.  What 
will  make  them  brave  and  wise?  What  will 
teach  them  to  love  their  country  and  old 
Norway  ?  Will  not  the  stories  of  battles, 
of  brave  deeds,  of  mighty  men,  do  this?" 

So,  as  the  family  worked  in  the  red 
fire-light,  the  father  told  of  the  kings  of 
Norway,  of  long  vo37ages  to  strange  lands, 
of  good  fights.  And  in  farmhouses  all 
through  Iceland  these  old  tales  were  told 
over  and  over  until  everybody  knew  them 
and  loved  them.  Some  men  could  sing 
and  play  the  harp.  This  made  the  stories 
all  the  more  interesting.  People  called 
such  men  "skalds,"  and  they  called  their 
songs  "sagas." 

Every  midsummer  there  was  a  great 
meeting.  Men  from  all  over  Iceland 
came  to  it  and  made  laws.  During  the 
day  there  were  rest  times,  when  no  bus- 
iness was  going  on.  Then  some  skald 
would  take  his  harp  and  walk  to  a  large 
stone  or  a  knoll  and  stand  on  it  and  begin 
a  song   of   some   brave   deed  of  an  old 


In  Norway  u 

Norse  hero.  At  the  first  sound  of  the 
harp  and  the  voice,  men  came  running 
from  all  directions,  crying  out : 

"The  skald!    The  skald!    A  saga!" 

They  stood  about  for  hours  and  lis- 
tened. They  shouted  applause.  When 
the  skald  was  tired,  some  other  man 
would  come  up  from  the  crowd  and  sing 
or  tell  a  story.  As  the  skald  stepped 
down  from  his  high  position,  some  rich 
man  would  rush  up  to  him  and  say: 

"Come  and  spend  next  winter  at  my 
house.     Our  ears  are  thirsty  for  song." 

So  the  best  skalds  traveled  much  and 
visited  many  people.  Their  songs  made 
them  welcome  everywhere.  They  were 
always  honored  with  good  seats  at  a  feast. 
They  were  given  many  rich  gifts.  Even 
the  King  of  Norway  would  sometimes 
send  across  the  water  to  Iceland,  saying 
to  some  famous  skald: 

' '  Come  and  visit  me.  You  shall  not  go 
away  empty-handed.  Men  say  that  the 
sweetest  songs  are  in  Iceland.  I  wish  to 
hear  them." 

These  tales  were  not  written.  Few 
men  wrote  or  read  in  those  days.    Skalds 


12  Viking  Tales 


b 


learned  songs  from  hearing  them  sung. 
At  last  people  began  to  write  more  easily. 
Then  they  said: 

"These  stories  are  very  precious.  We 
must  write  them  down  to  save  them 
from  being  forgotten." 

After  that  many  men  in  Iceland  spent 
their  winters  in  writing  books.  They 
wrote  on  sheepskin;  vellum,  we  call  it. 
Many  of  these  old  vellum  books  have 
been  saved  for  hundreds  of  years,  and 
are  now  in  museums  in  Norway.  Some 
leaves  are  lost,  some  are  torn,  all  are 
yellow  and  crumpled.  But  they  are  pre- 
cious. They  tell  us  all  that  we  know 
about  that  olden  time.  There  are  the 
very  words  that  the  men  of  Iceland  wrote 
so  long  ago — stories  of  kings  and  of  bat- 
tles and  of  ship-sailing.  Some  of  those 
old  stories  I  have  told  in  this  book. 


/AC  NORWAY 


KING  HALFDAN  lived  in  Norway 
long  ago.  One  morning  his  queen 
said  to  him : 

' '  I  had  a  strange  dream  last  night. 
I  thought  that  I  stood  in  the  grass  before 
my  bower.*  I  pulled  a  thorn  from  my 
dress.  As  I  held  it  in  my  fingers,  it  grew 
into  a  tall  tree.  The  trunk  was  thick 
and  red  as  blood,  but  the  lower  limbs 
were  fair  and  green,  and  the  highest  ones 
were  white.  I  thought  that  the  branches 
of  this  great  tree  spread  so  far  that  they 
covered  all  Norway  and  even  more." 

"A  strange  dream,"  said  King  Half- 
dan.  ' '  Dreams  are  the  messengers  of  the 
gods.  I  wonder  what  they  would  tell 
us,"  and  he  stroked  his  beard  in  thought. 

Some  time  after  that  a  serving-woman 
came  into  the  feast  hall  where  King 
Halfdan  was.  She  carried  a  little  white 
bundle  in  her  arms. 

*  See  note  about  house  on  page  194. 
15 


1 6  V iking  Talcs 

"My  lord,"  she  said,  "a  little  son  is 
just  born  to  }7ou." 

"Ha!"  cried  the  king,  and  he  jumped 
up  from  the  high  seat  and  hastened  for- 
ward until  he  stood  before  the  woman. 

"Show  him  to  me!"  he  shouted,  and 
there  was  joy  in  his  voice. 

The  serving-woman  put  down  her  bun- 
dle on  the  ground  and  turned  back  the 
cloth.  There  was  a  little  naked  baby. 
The  king  looked  at  it  carefully. 

"  It  is  a  goodly  youngster,"  he  said,  and 
smiled.     ' '  Bring  Ivar  and  Thorstein."  * 

They  were  captains  of  the  king's  sol- 
diers.    Soon  they  came. 

"Stand  as  witnesses,"  Halfdan  said. 

Then  he  lifted  the  baby  in  his  arms, 
while  the  old  serving-woman  brought  a 
silver  bowl  of  water.  The  king  dipped 
his  hand  into  it  and  sprinkled  the  bab}^, 
saying: 

"I  own  this  baby  for  my  son.  He 
shall  be  called  Harald.  My  naming  gift 
to  him  is  ten  pounds  of  gold." 

Then  the  woman  carried  the  baby 
back  to  the  queen's  room. 

*  See  note  about  names  on  page  194. 


1 8  Viking  Tales 

"My  lord  owns  him  for  his  son,"  she 
said.  "And  no  wonder!  He  is  perfect 
in  every  limb." 

The  queen  looked  at  him  and  smiled 
and  remembered  her  dream  and  thought: 

' '  That  great  tree  !  Can  it  be  this  little 
baby  of  mine?" 


THe    Tooth,   Thra,U 

WHEN  Harald  was  seven  months  old 
he  cut  his  first  tooth.  Then  his 
father  said : 

"All  the  young  of  my  herds,  lambs 
and  calves  and  colts,  that  have  been  born 
since  this  baby  was  born  I  this  day  give 
to  him.  I  also  give  to  him  this  thrall, 
Olaf.  These  are  my  tooth-gifts  to  my 
son." 

The  boy  grew  fast,  for  as  soon  as  he 
could  walk  about  he  was  out  of  doors 
most  of  the  time.  He  ran  in  the  woods 
and  climbed  the  hills  and  waded  in  the 
creek.  He  was  much  with  his  tooth 
thrall,  for  the  king  had  said  to  Olaf: 

"  Be  ever  at  his  call." 

Now  this  Olaf  was  full  of  stories,  and 
Harald  liked  to  hear  them. 

"Come  out  to  Aegir's  Rock,  Olaf,  and 
tell  me  stories,"  he  said  almost  every  day. 

So  they  started  off  across  the  hills. 
The  man  wore  a  long,  loose  coat  of  white 

19 


20  Viking  Tales 

wool,  belted  at  the  waist  with  a  strap. 
He  had  on  coarse  shoes  and  leather  leg- 
gings. Around  his  neck  was  an  iron 
collar  welded  together  so  that  it  could 
not  come  off.  On  it  were  strange  marks, 
called  runes,  that  said  : 

"Olaf,  thrall  of  Halfdan." 

But  Harald's  clothes  were  gay.  A  cape 
of  gra}^  velvet  hung  from  his  shoulders. 
It  was  fastened  over  his  breast  with  great 
gold  buckles.  When  it  waved  in  the 
wind,  a  scarlet  lining  flashed  out,  and  the 
bottom  of  a  little  scarlet  jacket  showed. 
His  feet  and  legs  were  covered  with 
gray  woolen  tights.  Gold  lacings  wound 
around  his  legs  from  his  shoes  to  his 
knees.  A  band  of  gold  held  down  his 
long,  }^ellow  hair. 

It  was  a  wild  country  that  these 
two  were  walking  over.  They  were 
climbing  steep,  rough  hills.  Some  of 
them  seemed  made  all  of  rock,  with  a 
little  earth  lying  in  spots.  Great  rocks 
hung  out  from  them,  with  trees  grow- 
ing in  their  cracks.  Some  big  pieces 
had  broken  off  and  rolled  down  the 
hill. 


In  ATorway  21 

"  Thor  broke  them,"  Olaf  said.  "He 
rides  through  the  sky  and  hurls  his 
hammer  at  clouds  and  at  mountains. 
That  makes  the  thunder  and  the  light- 
ning and  cracks  the  hills.  His  hammer 
never  misses  its  aim,  and  it  always 
comes  back  to  his  hand  and  is  eager 
to  go  again." 

When  they  reached  the  top  of  the  hill 
they  looked  back.  Far  below  was  a  soft, 
green  valley.  In  front  of  it  the  sea  came 
up  into  the  land  and  made  a  fiord.  On 
each  side  of  the  fiord  high  walls  of  rock 
stood  up  and  made  the  water  black  with 
shadow.  All  around  the  valley  were  high 
hills  with  dark  pines  on  them.  Far  off 
were  the  mountains.  In  the  valley  were 
Half  dan's  houses  around  their  square 
yard. 

"How  little  our  houses  look  down 
there!"  Harald  said.  "But  I  can  almost 
—  yes,  I  can  see  the  red  dragon  on  the 
roof  of  the  feast  hall.  Do  you  remember 
when  I  climbed  up  and  sat  on  his  head, 
Olaf?" 

He  laughed  and  kicked  his  heels  and 
ran  on. 


"  //^  threw  back  his  cape  and  dreiv  a  little  dagger  from  his  belt 


In  Norway  23 

At  last  they  came  to  Aegir's  Rock  and 
walked  up  on  its  flat  top.  Harald  went 
to  the  edge  and  looked  over.  A  ragged 
wall  of  rock  reached  down,  and  two  hun- 
dred feet  below  was  the  black  water  of 
the  fiord.  Olaf  watched  him  for  a  while, 
then  he  said : 

"No  whitening  of  your  cheek,  Harald ? 
Good!  A  boy  that  can  face  the  fall  of 
Aegir's  Rock  will  not  be  afraid  to  face 
the  war  flash  when  he  is  a  man." 

"  Ho,  I  am  not  afraid  of  the  war  flash 
now,"  cried  Harald. 

He  threw  back  his  cape  and  drew  a 
little  dagger  from  his  belt. 

"See!"  he  cried;  "does  this  not  flash 
like  a  sword  ?  And  I  am  not  afraid.  But 
after  all,  this  is  a  baby  thing !  When  I 
am  eight  years  old  I  will  have  a  sword,  a 
sharp  tooth  of  war." 

He  swung  his  dagger  as  though  it 
were  a  long  sword.  Then  he  ran  and  sat 
on  a  rock  by  Olaf. 

"Why  is  this  Aegir's  Rock?"  he  asked. 

"You  know  that  Asgard  is  up  in  the 
sk}T,"  Olaf  said.  "It  is  a  wonderful  city 
where  the  golden  houses  of  the  gods  are 


2 4  Viking  Tales 

in  the  golden  grove.  A  high  wall  runs 
all  around  it.  In  the  house  of 'Odin, 
the  All-father,  there  is  a  great  feast  hall 
larger  than  the  whole  earth.  Its  name  is 
Valhalla.  It  has  five  hundred  doors. 
The  rafters  are  spears.  The  roof  is 
thatched  with  shields.  Armor  lies  on  the 
benches.  In  the  high  seat  sits  Odin,  a 
golden  helmet  on  his  head,  a  spear  in  his 
hand.  Two  wolves  lie  at  his  feet.  At 
his  right  hand  and  his  left  sit  all  the  gods 
and  goddesses,  and  around  the  hall  sit 
thousands  and  thousands  of  men,  all  the 
brave  ones  that  have  ever  died. 

"  Now  it  is  good  to  be  in  Valhalla  ;  for 
there  is  mead  there  better  than  men  can 
brew,  and  it  never  runs  out.  And  there 
are  skalds  that  sing  wonderful  songs  that 
men  never  heard.  And  before  the  doors 
of  Valhalla  is  a  great  meadow  where  the 
warriors  fight  every  day  and  get  glorious 
and  sweet  wounds  and  give  man}^.  And 
all  night  they  feast,  and  their  wounds 
heal.  But  none  may  go  to  Valhalla  ex- 
cept VT.rriors  that  have  died  bravely  in 
battle.  Men  who  die  from  sickness  go 
with  women  and  children  and  cowards 


In  Norway  25 

to  Niflheim.  There  Hela,  who  is  queen, 
always  sneers  at  them,  and  a  terrible  cold 
takes  hold  of  their  bones,  and  they  sit 
down  and  freeze. 

' '  Years  ago  Aegir  was  a  great  warrior. 
Aegir  the  Big-handed,  they  called  him. 
In  many  a  battle  his  sword  had  sung, 
and  he  had  sent  many  warriors  to  Val- 
halla. Many  swords  had  bit  into  his 
flesh  and  left  marks  there,  but  never  a 
one  had  struck  him  to  death.  So  his  hair 
grew  white  and  his  arms  thin.  There 
was  peace  in  that  country  then,  and  Aegir 
sorrowed,  saying: 

"  '  I  am  old.  Battles  are  still.  Must  I 
die  in  bed  like  a  woman  ?  Shall  I  not  see 
Valhalla?' 

"Now  thus  did  Odin  say  long  ago  : 

"'If  a  man  is  old  and  is  come  near 
death  and  cannot  die  in  fight,  let  him 
find  death  in  some  brave  way  and  he 
shall  feast  with  me  in  Valhalla.' 

' '  So  one  day  Aegir  came  to  this 
rock. 

"  'A  deed  to  win  Valhalla  !'  he  cried. 

"Then  he  drew  his  sword  and  flashed 
it  over  his  head  and  held  his  shield  high 


26  Viking  Tales 

above  him,  and  leaped  out  into  the  air 
and  died  in  the  water  of  the  fiord." 

"Ho!"  cried  Harald,  jumping  to  his 
feet.  ' '  I  think  that  Odin  stood  up  before 
his  high  seat  and  welcomed  that  man 
gladly  when  he  walked  through  the  door 
of  Valhalla." 

"So  the  songs  say,"  replied  Olaf,  "for 
skalds  still  sing  of  that  deed  all  over 
Norway." 


AT  another  time  Harald  asked: 
' '  What  is  }^our  country,  Olaf  ?  Have 
you  always  been  a  thrall?" 

The  thrall's  eyes  flashed. 

"When  you  are  a  man,"  he  said, 
"and  go  a- viking  to  Denmark,  ask  men 
whether  they  ever  heard  of  Olaf  the 
Crafty.  There,  far  off,  is  my  country, 
across  the  water.  My  father  was  Gud- 
brand  the  Big.  Two  hundred  warriors 
feasted  in  his  hall  and  followed  him  to 
battle.  Ten  sons  sat  at  meat  with  him, 
and  I  was  the  youngest.    One  day  he  said : 

' '  '  You  are  all  grown  to  be  men. 
There  is  not  elbow-room  here  for  so 
many  chiefs.  The  eldest  of  you  shall 
have  my  farm  when  I  die.  The  rest  of 
you,  off  a-viking!' 

"He  had  three  ships.  These  he  gave 
to  three  of  my  brothers.  But  1  stayed 
that  spring  and  built  me  a  boat.  I  made 
her    for    only    twenty    oars    because    I 


28  Viking  Tales 

thought  few  men  would  follow  me  ;  for  I 
was  young,  fifteen  years  old.  I  made  her 
in  the  likeness  of  a  dragon.  At  the  prow 
I  carved  the  head  with  open  mouth  and 
forked  tongue  thrust  out.  I  painted  the 
eyes  red  for  anger. 

' '  '  There,  stand  so ! '  I  said,  '  and  glare 
and  hiss  at  my  foes.' 

"In  the  stern  I  curved  the  tail  up 
almost  as  high  as  the  head.  There  I  put 
the  pilot's  seat  and  a  strong  tiller  for  the 
rudder.  On  the  breast  and  sides  I  carved 
the  dragon's  scales.  Then  I  painted  it 
all  black  and  on  the  tip  of  every  scale  I 
put  gold.  I  called  her  '  Waverunner.' 
There  she  sat  on  the  rollers,  as  fair  a  ship 
as  I  ever  saw. 

"The  night  that  it  was  finished  I  went 
to  my  father's  feast.  After  the  meats 
were  eaten  and  the  mead -horns  came 
round,  I  stood  up  from  my  bench  and 
raised  my  drinking-horn'"'  high  and  spoke 
with  a  great  voice: 

"  'This  is  my  vow:  I  will  sail  to  Nor- 
way and  I  will  harry  the  coast  and  fill 
my  boat  with  riches.     Then  I  will  get 

*  See  note  about  drinking-horns  on  page  195. 


In  Nor zv ay  29 

me  a  farm  and  will  winter  in  that  land. 
Now  who  will  follow  me  ? ' 

"  '  He  is  but  a  boy,'  the  men  said.  '  He 
has  opened  his  mouth  wider  than  he  can 
do.' 

"But  others  jumped  to  their  feet  with 
their  mead-horns  in  their  hands.  Thirty 
men,  one  after  another,  raised  their  horns 
and  said: 

"  'I  will  follow  this  lad,  and  I  will  not 
turn  back  so  long  as  he  and  I  live ! ' 

"On  the  next  morning  we  got  into  my 
dragon  and  started.  I  sat  high  in  the 
pilot's  seat.  As  our  boat  flashed  down 
the  rollers  into  the  water  I  made  this 
song  and  sang  it: 

" '  The  dragon  runs. 
Where  will  she  steer  ? 
Where  swords  will  sing, 
Where  spears  will  bite, 
Where  I  shall  laugh.' 

"So  we  harried  the  coast  of  Norway. 
We  ate  at  many  men's  tables  uninvited. 
Many  men  we  found  overburdened  with 
gold.    Then  I  said: 

"  '  M}^  dragon's  belly  is  never  full,'  and 
on  board  went  the  gold. 


jo  Viking  Tales 

' '  Oh  !  it  is  better  to  live  on  the  sea  and 
let  other  men  raise  your  crops  and  cook 
your  meals.  A  house  smells  of  smoke,  a 
ship  smells  of  frol'ic.  From  a  house  you 
see  a  sooty  roof,  from  a  ship  you  see 
Valhalla. 

' '  Up  and  down  the  water  we  went  to 
get  much  wealth  and  much  frolic.  After 
a  while  m}^  men  said : 

"  'What  of  the  farm,  Olaf ?' 

"'Not  yet,'  I  answered.  'Viking  is 
better  for  summer.  When  the  ice  comes, 
and  our  dragon  cannot  play,  then  we  will 
get  our  farm  and  sit  down.' 

' '  At  last  the  winter  came,  and  I  said 
to  my  men: 

"  '  Now  for  the  farm.  I  have  my  eye 
on  one  up  the  coast  a  way  in  King  Half- 
dan's  country.' 

"So  we  set  off  for  it.  We  landed  late 
at  night  and  pulled  our  boat  up  on  shore 
and  walked  quietly  to  the  house.  It  was 
rather  a  wealthy  farm,  for  there  were 
stables  and  a  storehouse  and  a  smithy  at 
the  sides  of  the  house.  There  was  but 
one  door  to  the  house.  We  went  to  it, 
and  I  struck  it  with  my  spear. 


'/  struck  my  shield  against  the  door  so  that  it  made  a  great  clanging' 


32  Viking  Tales 

"'Hello!  Ho!  Hello !'  I  shouted,  and 
my  men  made  a  great  din. 

' '  At  last  some  one  from  inside  said : 

"  'Who  calls?' 

"  'I  call,'  I  answered.  'Open!  or  you 
will  think  it  Thor  who  calls,'  and  I  struck 
my  shield  against  the  door  so  that  it 
made  a  great  clanging. 

"The  door  opened  only  a  little,  but  I 
pushed  it  wide  and  leaped  into  the  room. 
It  was  so  dark  that  I  could  see  nothing 
but  a  few  sparks  on  the  hearth.  I  stood 
with  my  back  to  the  wall ;  for  I  wanted  no 
sword  reaching  out  of  the  dark  for  me. 

"  '  Now  start  up  the  fire,'  I  said. 

"  'Come,  come !'  I  called,  when  no  one 
obeyed.  '  A  fire  !  This  is  cold  welcome 
for  your  guests.' 

"My  men  laughed. 

"'Yes,  a  stingy  host!  He  acts  as 
though  he  had  not  expected  us.' 

"But  now  the  farmer  was  blowing  on 
the  coals  and  putting  on  fresh  wood. 
Soon  it  blazed  up,  and  we  could  see  about 
us.  We  were  in  a  little  feast  hall,"  with 
its  fire   down  the  middle  of   it.     There 


*  See  note  about  feast  hall  on  page  196. 


In  Norway  jj 

were  benches  for  twenty  men  along  each 
side.  The  farmer  crouched  by  the  fire, 
afraid  to  move.  On  a  bench  in  a  far 
corner  were  a  dozen  people  huddled 
together. 

"  'Ho,  thralls! '  I  called  to  them.  'Bring 
in  the  table.    We  are  hungry.' 

"Off  the}^  ran  through  a  door  at  the 
back  of  the  hall.  M}^  men  came  in  and 
lay  down  by  the  fire  and  warmed  them- 
selves, but  I  set  two  of  them  as  guards  at 
the  door. 

"'Well,  friend  farmer,'  laughed  one, 
'  why  such  a  long  face  ?  Do  you  not  think 
we  shall  be  merry  company?' 

"  'We  came  only  to  cheer  you,'  said 
another.  '  What  man  wants  to  spend  the 
winter  with  no  guests  ? ' 

"  'Ah !'  another  then  cried  out,  sitting 
up.  '  Here  comes  something  that  will  be 
a  welcome  guest  to  my  stomach.' 

' '  The  thralls  were  bringing  in  a  great 
pot  of  meat.  They  set  up  a  crane  over 
the  fire  and  hung  the  pot  upon  it,  and  we 
sat  and  watched  it  boil  while  we  joked. 
At  last  the  supper  began.  The  farmer 
sat  gloomily  on  the  bench  and  would  not 


JV  Viking  Tales 

eat,  and  you  cannot  wonder ;  for  he  saw 
us  putting  potfuls  of  his  good  beef  and 
basket-loads  of  bread  into  our  big  mouths. 
When  the  tables  were  taken  out  and  the 
mead-horns  came  round,  I  stood  up  and 
raised  my  horn  and  said  to  the  farmer : 

"  'You  would  not  eat  with  us.  You 
cannot  say  no  to  half  of  my  ale.  I  drink 
this  to  your  health. ' 

"Then  I  drank  half  of  the  hornful 
and  sent  the  rest  across  the  fire  to  the 
farmer.     He  took  it  and  smiled,  say ing : 

' '  '  Since  it  is  to  my  health,  I  will  drink 
it.  I  thought  that  all  this  night's  work 
would  be  my  death.' 

"'Oh,  do  not  fear  that!' I  laughed, 
'  for  a  dead  man  sets  no  tables. ' 

"So  we  drank  and  all  grew  merrier. 
At  last  I  stood  up  and  said : 

"  '  I  like  this  little  taste  of  }^our  hospi- 
tality, friend  farmer.  I  have  decided  to 
accept  more  of  it.' 

' '  My  men  roared  with  laughter. 

" 'Come,' they  cried,  'thank  him  for 
that,  farmer.  Did  3^ou  ever  have  such  a 
lordly  guest  before?' 

' '  I  went  on  : 


In  Norway  35 

' '  '  Now  there  is  no  fun  in  having  guests 
unless  they  keep  3^011  company  and  make 
you  merry.  So  I  will  give  out  this  law: 
that  my  men  shall  never  leave  you  alone. 
Hakon  there  shall  be  your  constant  com- 
panion, friend  farmer.  He  shall  not 
leave  you  da}^  or  night,  whether  you  are 
working  or  playing  or  sleeping.  Leif 
and  Grim  shall  be  the  same  kind  of 
friends  to  your  two  sons.' 

' '  I  named  nine  others  and  said  : 

"  'And  these  shall  follow  your  thralls 
in  the  same  way.  Now,  am  I  not  careful 
to  make  your  time  go  merrily?' 

"  So  I  set  guards  over  every  one  in  that 
house.  Not  once  all  that  winter  did  they 
stir  out  of  sight  of  some  of  us.  So  no 
tales  got  out  to  the  neighbors.  Besides, 
it  was  a  lonely  place,  and  by  good  luck 
no  one  came  that  way,  Oh!  that  was  fat 
and  easy  living. 

"Well,  after  we  had  been  there  for  a 
long  time,  Hakon  came  in  to  the  feast 
one  night  and  said: 

"'I   heard  a  cuckoo   to-day!' 

"  'It  is  the  call  to  go  a-viking,' 
I  said. 


j6  Viking  Tales 

"All  my  men  put  their  hands' to  their 
mouths  and  shouted.  Their  e}^es  danced. 
Big  Thorleif  stood  up  and  stretched  him- 
self. 

"  '  I  am  stiff  with  long  sitting,'  he  said. 
'  I  itch  for  a  fight. ' 

' '  I  turned  to  the  farmer. 

"'This  is  our  last  feast  with  you,'  I 
said. 

"  'Well,'  he  laughed,  'this  has  been 
the  busiest  winter  I  ever  spent,  and  the 
merriest.     May  good  luck  go  with  you  !' 

"  'Ety  the  beard  of  Odin!'  I  cried,  'you 
have  taken  our  joke  like  a  man.' 

' '  My  men  pounded  the  table  with  their 
fists. 

' '  '  By  the  hammer  of  Thor  ! '  shouted 
Grim.  '  Here  is  no  stingy  coward.  He  is 
a  man  fit  to  carry  my  drinking-horn,  the 
horn  of  a  sea-rover  and  a  sword-swinger. 
Here,  friend,  take  it,'  and  he  thrust  it 
into  the  farmer's  hand.  '  May  you  drink 
heart's-ease  from  it  for  many  years. 
And  with  it  I  leave  you  a  name,  Sif  the 
Friendl}7.  I  shall  hope  to  drink  with  3rou 
sometime  in  Valhalla.' 

' '  Then  all  my  men  poured  around  that 


In  Norway  jy 

farmer  and  clapped  him  on  the  shoulder 
and  piled  things  upon  him,  saying: 

"  '  Here  is  a  ring  for  Sif  the  Friendly.' 

11  'And  here  is  a  bracelet.' 

"  'A  sword  would  not  be  ashamed  to 
hang  at  your  side.' 

"I  took  five  great  bracelets  of  gold 
from  our  treasure  chest  and  gave  them 
to  him. 

"The  old  man's  eyes  opened  wide  at 
all  these  things,  and  at  the  same  time  he 
laughed. 

"'May  Odin  send  me  such  guests 
every  winter! '  he  said. 

"  Early  next  morning  we  shook  hands 
with  our  host  and  boarded  the  'Wave- 
runner'  and  sailed  off. 

"  '  Where  shall  we  go?'  my  men  asked. 

"'Let  the  gods  decide,'  I  said,  and 
tossed  up  my  spear. 

"When  it  fell  on  the  deck  it  pointed 
up-shore,  so  I  steered  in  that  direction. 
That  is  the  best  way  to  decide,  for  the 
spear  will  always  point  somewhere,  and 
one  thing  is  as  good  as  another.  That 
time  it  pointed  us  into  your  father's  ships. 
They  closed  in  battle  with  us  and  killed 


jS  Viking  Tales 

my  men  and  sunk  my  ship  and  dragged 
me  off  a  prisoner.  They  were  three 
against  one,  or  they  might  have  tasted 
something  more  bitter  at  our  hands. 
They  took  me  before  King  Halfdan. 

' '  '  Here, '  they  said,  '  is  a  rascal  who  has 
been  hanging  our  coasts.  We  sunk  his 
ship  and  men,  but  him  we  brought  to  you. ' 

"  'A  robber  viking?'  said  the  king,  and 
scowled  at  me. 

' '  I  threw  back  my  head  and  laughed. 

"  'Yes.  And  with  all  your  fingers  it 
took  you  a  year  to  catch  me.' 

' '  The  king  frowned  more  angril}". 

"  'Saucy,  too?'  he  said.  'Well,  thieves 
must  die.  Take  him  out,  Thorkel,  and 
let  him  taste  your  sword.' 

"Your  mother,  the  queen,  was  stand- 
ing by.  Now  she  put  her  hand  on  his 
arm  and  smiled  and  said  : 

"  '  He  is  only  a  lad.  Let  him  live.  And 
would  he  not  be  a  good  gift  for  our  baby? ' 

"Your  father  thought  a  moment,  then 
looked  at  your  mother  and  smiled. 

"'Soft  heart!'  he  said  gently  to  her; 
then  to  Thorkel,  'Well,  let  him  go, 
Thorkel ! ' 


In  Norway  jg 

' '  Then  he  turned  to  me  again,  frown- 
ing. 

' '  '  But,  j^oung  sharp-tongue,  now  that 
we  have  caught  }^ou  we  will  put  you  into 
a  trap  that  you  cannot  get  out  of.  Weld 
an  iron  collar  on  his  neck.' 

"So  I  lived  and  now  am  }^our  tooth 
thrall.  Well,  it  is  the  luck  of  war.  But 
by  the  chair  of  Odin,  I  kept  my  vow  !  " 

"  Yes!"  cried  Harald,  jumping  to  his 
feet.  "And  had  a  joke  into  the  bargain. 
Ah !  sometime  I  will  make  a  brave  vow 
like  that." 


Olaf's  Fi§Ht  With  Havard 

AT  another  time  Harald  said: 
.   "Tell  me  of  a  fight,  Olaf.     I  want 
to  hear  about  the  music  of  swords." 

Olaf's  e}Tes  blazed. 

' '  I  will  tell  you  of  our  fight  with  King 
Havard,"  he  said. 

"One  dark  night  we  had  landed  at  a 
farm.  We  left  our  'Waverunner'  in  the 
water  with  three  men  to  guard  her.  The 
rest  of  us  went  into  the  house.  The 
farmer  met  us  at  the  door,  but  he  died 
by  Thorkel's  sword.  The  others  we  shut 
into  their  beds.  *  The  door  at  each  end  of 
the  hall  we  had  barred  on  the  inside  so 
that  nobody  could  surprise  us.  We  were 
busy  going  through  the  cupboards  and 
shouting  at  our  good  luck.  But  sud- 
denly we  heard  a  shout  outside: 

"  'Thor  and  Havard!' 

"Then  there  was  a  great  beating  at 
the  doors. 


*  See  note  about  beds  on  page 


40 


///  Norway  41 

"'He  lias  two  hundred  fighters  with 
him, '  said  Grim ;  '  for  we  saw  his  ships  last 
night.  Thirty  against  two  hundred!  We 
shall  all  drink  in  Valhalla  to-night.' 

"  'Well,'  I  cried,  'Odin  shall  have  no 
unwilling  guest  in  me.' 

"  '  Nor  in  me,'  cried  Hakon. 

"  '  Nor  in  me,'  shouted  Thorkel. 

"And  that  shout  went  all  around,  and 
we  drew  out  our  swords  and  caught  up 
our  shields. 

"'Hot  work  is  ahead  of  us,'  said 
Hakon.  '  Besides,  we  must  leave  none 
of  this  mead  for  Havard.  Lend  a  hand, 
some  one.' 

"Then  he  and  another  pulled  out  a 
great  tub  that  sat  on  the  floor  of  the  cup- 
board. 

"  'I  drink  to  Valhalla  to-night,'  cried 
Thorkel  the  Thirsty,  and  he  plunged  his 
horn  deep  into  the  tub. 

"When  he  brought  it  up,  his  sleeve 
was  dripping  and  the  sweet  mead  was 
running  over  from  the  horn. 

"  'Sloven!'  cried  Hakon,  and  he  struck 
Thorkel  with  his  fist  and  knocked  him 
over  into  the  cupboard. 


42  Viking  Tales 

' '  He  fell  against  the  wooden  wall  at 
the  back,  and  a  carved  panel  swung  open 
behind  him.  He  dropped  down  head 
first.  In  a  minute  he  put  his  head  out 
of  the  hole  again.      We  all  stood  staring. 

"  'I  think  it  is  a  secret  passage,'  he 
said. 

"'We  will  try  it,'  I  answered  in  a 
whisper.  'Throw  dirt  on  the  fire.  It 
must  be  dark.' 

"So  we  dug  up  dirt  from  the  earth 
floor  and  smothered  the  fire.  All  this 
time  there  was  a  terrible  shouting  and 
hammering  at  the  doors,  but  they  were 
of  heavy  logs  and  stood. 

"  'I  with  four  more  will  guard  this 
door,'  I  said,  pointing  to  the  east  end. 

"Immediately  four  men  stepped  to 
my  side. 

' '  '  And  I  will  guard  the  other, '  Hakon 
said,  and  four  went  with  him. 

"  'The  rest  of  you,  down  the  hole!'  I 
said.  '  Close  the  door  after  you.  If  luck 
is  with  us  we  will  meet  at  the  ships. 
Now  Thor  and  our  good  swords  help  us  ! 
Quick  !     The  doors  are  giving  way.' 

"So  we  ten  men  stood  at  the  doors 


In  Nor iv ay  43 

and  held  back  the  king's  soldiers.  It  was 
dark  in  the  room,  and  the  people  out  of 
doors  could  not  tell  how  many  were  in- 
side.    Few  were  eager  to  be  the  first  in. 

' '  '  Thirty  swords  are  waiting  in  there 
to  eat  up  the  first  man,'  we  heard  some 
one  say. 

"  We  chuckled  at  that. 

' '  But  the  king  stood  in  the  very  door- 
way and  fought.  Our  five  swords  held 
him  back  for  a  long  time,  but  at  last  he 
pushed  in,  and  his  men  poured  after  him. 
We  ran  back  and  hid  behind  some  tubs 
in  a  dark  corner.  The  king's  men  went 
groping  about  and  calling,  but  they  did 
not  find  us.  The  room  was  full  of  shout- 
ing and  running  and  sword-clashing ;  for 
in  the  dark  and  the  noise  the  men  could 
not  tell  their  own  soldiers.  More  than 
one  fell  by  his  friend's  sword.  When  it 
was  less  crowded  about  the  doorway,  I 
whispered : 

"'Follow  me  in  double  line.  We 
will  make  for  the  ships.  Keep  close 
together.' 

"So  that  double  line  of  men,  with 
swords  swinging  from  both  sides,  ran  out 


44  Viking  Tales 

through  the  dark.  Swords  struck  out  at 
us,  and  we  struck  back.  Men  ran  after 
us  shouting,  but  our  legs  were  as  good  as 
theirs.  But  I  and  Hakon  and  one  other 
were  all  that  reached  the  ship.  There 
we  saw  our  'Waverunner'  with  sail  up 
and  bow  pointing  to  open  sea.  We 
swam  out  to  her  and  climbed  aboard. 
Then  the  men  swung  the  sail  to  the 
wind,  and  we  moved  off.  Even  as 
we  went,  a  spear  whizzed  through  the 
air,  and  Hakon  fell  dead  ;  for  the  king 
and  all  his  men  were  running  to  the 
shore. 

' '  '  After  them  ! '  they  were  shouting. 

"Then  we  heard  the  king  call  to  the 
men  in  his  boats  lying  out  in  the 
water : 

' '  '  Row  to  shore  and  take  us  in. ' 

"Thorkel  was  standing  by  my  side. 
At  that  he  laughed  and  said  : 

"  '  They  do  not  answer.  He  left  but  a 
handful  to  guard  his  ships.  They  tasted 
our  swords.  And  we  went  aboard  and 
broke  the  oars  and  threw  the  sails  into 
the  water.  It  will  be  slow  going  for 
Havard  to-night.' 


'Then  he  turned  to  the  shore  and  sang  out  loudly  " 


46  Viking  Tales 

' '  Then  he   turned   to   the   shore   and 
sang  out  loudly: 

"  '  King  Havard's  ships  arc  dead : 

Olaf ' s  dragon  flies. 

King  Havard  stamps  the  shore  : 

Olaf  skims  the  waves. 

King  Havard  shakes  his  fist : 

Olaf  turns  and  laughs.' 

"That   was   the   end  of  our  meeting 
with  King  Havard." 


*^^t~~~2$i^™^XZ~'~2}f~~~m "  "  "     a ig  -^Jfp^^ste- — "^^" 


EVERY  day  the  boy  Harald  heard 
some  such  story  of  war  or  of  the 
gods,  until  he  could  see  Thor  riding 
among  the  storm-clouds  and  throwing  his 
hammer,  until  he  knew  that  a  brave  man 
has  many  wounds,  but  never  a  one  on  his 
back.  Many  nights  he  dreamed  that  he 
himself  walked  into  Valhalla,  and  that 
all  the  heroes  stood  up  and  shouted  : 
' '  Welcome !  Harald  Halfdanson  !  " 
' ' Ah  !  the  bite  of  the  sword  is  sweeter 
than  the  kiss  of  your  mother,"  he  said  to 
Olaf  one  day.  "When  shall  I  stand  in 
the  prow  of  a  dragon  and  feast  on  the 
fight?  I  am  hungry  to  see  the  world. 
Ivar  the  Far-goer  tells  me  of  the  strange 
countries  he  has  seen.  Ah !  we  vikings 
are  great  folk.  There  is  no  water  that  has 
not  licked  our  boats'  sides.  This  cape  of 
mine  came  in  a  viking  boat  from  France. 
These  cloak-pins  came  from  a  far  country 
called  Greece.     In  my  father's  house  are 

47 


48  Viking  Tales 

golden  cups  from  Rome,  away  on  the 
southern  sea.  Every  land  pours  rich 
things  into  our  treasure-chest.  Ivar  has 
been  to  a  strange  country  where  it  is  all 
sand  and  is  very  hot.  The  people  call  their 
country  Arabia.  They  have  never  heard 
of  Thor  or  Odin.  Ivar  brought  beautiful 
striped  cloth  from  there,  and  wonderful, 
sweet-smelling  waters.  Oh !  when  shall 
the  white  horses  of  the  sea  lead  me  out 
to  strange  lands  and  glorious  battles?" 

But  Harald  did  something  besides 
listen  to  stories.  Every  morning  he  was 
up  at  sunrise  and  went  with  a  thrall  to 
feed  the  hunting  dogs.  Thorstein  taught 
him  to  swim  in  the  rough  waters  of 
the  fiord.  Often  he  went  with  the  men 
a-hunting  in  the  woods  and  learned  to  ride 
a  horse  and  pull  a  bow  and  throw  a  lance. 
Ivar  taught  him  to  play  the  harp  and  to 
make  up  songs.  He  went  much  to  the 
smithy,  where  the  warriors  mended  their 
helmets  and  made  their  spears  and  swords 
of  iron  and  bronze.  At  first  he  only 
watched  the  men  or  worked  the  bellows, 
but  soon  he  could  handle  the  tongs  and 
hold  the  red-hot  iron,  and  after  a  long 


In  Norway  49 

time  he  learned  to  use  the  hammer  and 
to  shape  metal.  One  day  he  made  him- 
self a  spear-head.  It  was  two  feet  long 
and  sharp  on  both  edges.  While  the 
iron  was  hot  he  beat  into  it  some  runes. 
When  the  men  in  the  smithy  saw  the 
runes  they  opened  their  eyes  wide  and 
looked  at  the  boy,  for  few  Norsemen 
could  read. 

' '  What  does  it  say  ? "  they  asked. 

"  It  is  the  name  of  my  spear-point,  and 
it  says,  '  Foes'  -fear,'"  Harald  said.  "But 
now  for  a  handle." 

It  was  winter  and  the  snow  was  very 
deep.  So  Harald  put  on  his  skees  and 
started  for  a  wood  that  was  back  from 
shore.  Down  the  mountains  he  went, 
twenty,  thirty  feet  at  a  slide,  leaping  over 
chasms  a  hundred  feet  across.  In  his 
scarlet  cloak  he  looked  like  a  flash  of  fire. 
The  wind  shot  past  him  howling.  His 
eyes  danced  at  the  fun. 

"It  is  like  flying,"  he  thought  and 
laughed.  "  I  am  an  eagle.  Now  I  soar," 
as  he  leaped  over  a  frozen  river. 

He  saw  a  slender  ash  growing  on  top 
of  a  high  rock. 


So  Viking  Tales 

"That  is  the  handle  for  'Foes'-fear," 
he  said. 

The  rock  stood  up  like  a  ragged  tower, 
but  he  did  not  stop  because  of  the  steep 
climb.  He  threw  off  his  skees  and  thrust 
his  hands  and  feet  into  holes  of  the  rock 
and  drew  himself  up.  He  tore  his  jacket 
and  cut  his  leather  leggings  and  scratched 
his  face  and  bruised  his  hands,  but  at  last 
he  was  on  the  top.  Soon  he  had  chopped 
down  the  tree  and  had  cut  a  straight  pole 
ten  feet  long  and  as  big  around  as  his 
arm.  He  went  down,  sliding  and  jumping 
and  tearing  himself  on  the  sharp  stones. 
With  a  last  leap  he  landed  near  his  skees. 
As  he  did  so  a  lean  wolf  jumped  and 
snapped  at  him,  snarling.  Harald  shouted 
and  swung  his  pole.  The  wolf  dodged, 
but  quickly  jumped  again  and  caught  the 
boy's  arm  between  his  sharp  teeth.  Har- 
ald thought  of  the  spear-point  in  his  belt. 
In  a  wink  he  had  it  out  and  was  striking 
with  it.  He  drove  it  into  the  wolf's  neck 
and  threw  him  back  on  the  snow,  dead. 

"You  are  the  first  to  feel  the  tooth  of 
'Foes'-fear,'"  he  said,  "but  I  think  }tou 
will  not  be  the  last." 


"lie  drove  it  into  the  wolf  s  neck  " 


§2  Viking  Tales 

Then  without  thinking  of  his  torn  arm 
he  put  on  his  skees  and  went  leaping 
home.  He  went  straight  to  the  smithy 
and  smoothed  his  pole  and  drove  it  into 
the  haft  of  the  spear-point.  He  ham- 
mered out  a  gold  band  and  put  it  around 
the  joining  place.  He  made  nails  with 
beautiful  heads  and  drove  them  into  the 
pole  in  different  places. 

"If  it  is  heavy  it  will  strike  hard,"  he 
said. 

Then  he  weighed  the  spear  in  his  hand 
and  found  the  balancing  point  and  put 
another  gold  band  there  to  mark  it. 

Thorstein  came  in  while  he  was  work- 
ing. 

"A  good  spear,"  he  said. 

Then  he  saw  the  torn  sleeve  and  the 
red  wound  beneath. 

"Hello!"  he  cried.   "Your  first  wound?' 

"Oh,  it  is  only  a  wolf-scratch,"  Harald 
answered. 

"By  Thor ! "  cried  Thorstein,    "I  see 
that  37ou   are   ready  for  better  wounds 
You  bear  this  like  a  warrior." 

"1  think  it  will  not  be  my  last,"  Har 
aid  said. 


- 


Harald     is     Kirt£> 

NOW  when  Harald  was  ten  years  old 
his  father,  King  Halfdan,  died.  An 
old  book  that  tells  about  Harald  says  that 
then  ' '  he  was  the  biggest  of  all  men,  the 
strongest,  and  the  fairest  to  look  upon." 
That  about  a  boy  ten  years  old  !  But  boys 
grew  fast  in  those  days  ;  for  they  were  out 
of  doors  all  the  time,  running,  swimming, 
leaping  on  skees,  and  hunting  in  the  for- 
est.   All  that  makes  big,  manly  boys. 

So  now  King  Halfdan  was  dead  and 
buried,  and  Harald  was  to  be  king.  But 
first  he  must  drink  his  father's  funeral  ale. 

"Take  down  the  gay  tapestries  that 
hang  in  the  feast  hall,"  he  said  to  the 
thralls.  "Put  up  black  and  gray  ones. 
Strew  the  floor  with  pine  branches.  Brew 
twenty  tubs  of  fresh  ale  and  mead.  Scour 
every  dish  until  it  shines." 

Then  Harald  sent  messengers  all  over 
that  country  to  his  kinsmen  and  friends. 

"Bid  them  come  in  three  months'  time 

53 


54  Viking  Tales 

to  drink  my  father's  funeral  ale,"  he  said. 
"Tell  them  that  no  one  shall  go  away 
empty-handed. " 

So  in  three  months  men  came  riding  up 
at  every  hour.  Some  came  in  boats.  But 
many  had  ridden  far  through  mountains, 
swimming  rivers ;  for  there  were  few  roads 
or  bridges  in  Norway.  On  account  of  that 
hard  ride  no  women  came  to  the  feast. 

At  nine  o'clock  in  the  night  the  feast 
began.  The  men  came  walking  in  at  the 
west  end  of  the  hall.*  The  great  bonfires 
down  the  middle  of  the  room  were  flash- 
ing light  on  everything.  The  clean  smell 
of  this  wood-smoke  and  of  the  pine 
branches  on  the  floor  was  pleasant  to 
the  guests.  Down  each  side  of  the  hall 
stretched  long,  backless  benches,  with 
room  for  three  hundred  men.  In  the 
middle  of  each  side  rose  the  high  seat, 
a  great  carved  chair  on  a  platform. 
All  along  behind  the  benches  were  the 
black  and  gray  draperies.  Here  hung 
the  shields  of  the  guests  ;  for  every  man, 
when  he  was  given  his  place,  turned  and 
hung  his  shield  behind  him  and  set  his 


See  note  about  feast  hall  on  page  196. 


In  Norway  55 

tall  spear  b}^  it.  So  on  each  wall  there 
was  a  long  row  of  gay  shields,  red  and 
green  and  yellow,  and  all  shining  with 
gold  or  bronze  trimmings.  And  higher 
up  there  was  another  row  of  gleaming 
spear-points.  Above  the  hall  the  rafters 
were  carved  and  gaily  painted,  so  that 
dragons  seemed  to  be  crawling  across,  or 
eagles  seemed  to  be  swooping  down. 

The  guests  walked  in  laughing  and 
talking  with  their  big  voices  so  that  the 
rafters  rang.  They  made  the  hall  look  all 
the  brighter  with  their  clothes  of  scarlet 
and  blue  and  green,  with  their  flashing 
golden  bracelets  and  head-bands  and 
sword-scabbards,  with  their  flying  hair  of 
red  or  yellow. 

Across  the  east  end  of  the  hall  was  a 
bench.  When  the  men  were  all  in,  the 
queen,  Harald's  mother,  and  the  women 
who  lived  with  her,  walked  in  through  the 
east  door  and  sat  upon  this  bench. 

Then  thralls  came  running  in  and  set 
up  the  long  tables*  before  the  benches. 
Other  thralls  ran  in  with  large  steaming 
kettles  of  meat.     They  put  big  pieces  of 

*See  note  about  tables  on  page  196. 


56  Viking  Tales 

this  meat  into  platters  of  wood  and  set  it 
before  the  men.  They  had  a  few  dishes 
of  silver.  These  they  put  before  the 
guests  at  the  middle  of  the  tables;  for  the 
great  people  sat  here  near  the  high  seats. 

When  the  meat  came,  the  talking 
stopped;  for  Norsemen  ate  only  twice  a 
day,  and  these  men  had  had  long  rides 
and  were  hungry.  Three  or  four  per- 
sons ate  from  one  platter  and  drank  from 
the  same  big  bowl  of  milk.  They  had  no 
forks,  so  they  ate  from  their  fingers  and 
threw  the  bones  under  the  table  among 
the  pine  branches.  Sometimes  they  took 
knives  from  their  belts  to  cut  the  meat. 

When  the  guests  sat  back  satisfied, 
Harald  called  to  the  thralls  : 

"Carry  out  the  tables." 

So  they  did  and  brought  in  two  great 
tubs  of  mead  and  set  one  at  each  end  of  the 
hall.  Then  the  queen  stood  up  and  called 
some  of  her  women.  They  went  to  the 
mead  tubs.  They  took  the  horns,  when 
the  thralls  had  filled  them,  and  carried 
them  to  the  men  with  some  merry  word. 
Perhaps  one  woman  said  as  she  handed  a 
man  his  horn  : 


In  Norway  57 

' '  This  horn  has  no  feet  to  be  set  down 
upon.    You  must  drink  it  at  one  draught." 

Perhaps  another  said : 

"Mead  loves  a  merry  face." 

The  women  were  beautiful,  moving 
about  the  hall.  The  queen  wore  a  trail- 
ing dress  of  blue  velvet  with  long  flowing 
sleeves.  She  had  a  short  apron  of  striped 
Arabian  silk  with  gold  fringe  along  the 
bottom.  From  her  shoulders  hung  a  long 
train  of  scarlet  wool  embroidered  in  gold. 
White  linen  covered  her  head.  Her  long 
yellow  hair  was  pulled  around  at  the  sides 
and  over  her  breast  and  was  fastened 
under  the  belt  of  her  apron.  As  she 
walked,  her  train  made  a  pleasant  rustle 
among  the  pine  branches.  She  was  tall 
and  straight  and  strong.  Some  of  her 
younger  women  wore  no  linen  on  their 
heads  and  had  their  white  arms  bare, 
with  bracelets  shining  on  them.  They, 
too,  were  tall  and  strong. 

All  the  time  men  were  calling  across 
the  fire  to  one  another  asking  news  or 
telling  jokes  and  laughing. 

An  old  man,  Harald's  uncle,  sat  in  the 
high  seat  on  the  north  side.     That  was 


58  Viking  Tales 

the  place  of  honor.  But  the  high  seat  on 
the  south  side  was  empt}^;  for  that  was 
the  king's  seat.  Harald  sat  on  the  steps 
before  it. 

The  feast  went  merrily  until  long 
after  midnight.  Then  the  thralls  took 
some  of  the  guests  to  the  guest  house  to 
sleep,  and  some  to  the  beds  around  the 
sides  of  the  feast  hall.  But  some  men 
lay  down  on  the  benches  and  drew  their 
cloaks  over  themselves. 

On  the  next  night  there  was  another 
feast.  Still  Harald  sat  on  the  step  before 
the  high  seat.  But  when  the  tables  were 
gone  and  the  horns  were  going  around, 
he  stood  up  and  raised  high  a  horn  of  ale 
and  said  loudly: 

' '  This  horn  of  memory  I  drink  in  honor 
of  my  father,  Half  dan,  son  of  Gudrod,  who 
sits  now  in  Valhalla.  And  I  vow  that  I  will 
grind  my  father's  foes  under  my  heel." 

Then  he  drank  the  ale  and  sat  down  in 
the  king's  high  seat,  while  all  the  men  stood 
up  and  raised  their  horns  and  shouted: 

"King  Harald! " 

And  some  cried: 

"That  was  a  brave  vow." 


"/  vow  that  J  will  grind  my  father' s  foes  under  my  heel 


6o  Viking  Tales 

And  Harald's  uncle  called  out: 

"A  health  to  King  Harald!  " 

And  they  all  drank  it. 

Then  a  man  stood  up  and  said: 

"Hear  my  song  of  King  Halfdan! "  for 
this  man  was  a  skald. 

"Yes,  the  song!"  shouted  the  men, 
and  Harald  nodded  his  head. 

So  the  skald  took  down  his  great  harp 
from  the  wail  behind  him  and  went  and 
stood  before  Harald.  The  bottom  of  the 
harp  rested  on  the  floor,  but  the  top 
reached  as  high  as  the  skald's  shoulders. 
The  brass  frame  shone  in  the  light.  The 
strings  were  some  of  gold  and  some  of 
silver.  The  man  struck  them  with  his 
hand  and  sang  of  King  Halfdan,  of  his 
battles,  of  his  strong  arm  and  good 
sword,  of  his  death,  and  of  how  men 
loved  him. 

When  he  had  finished,  King  Harald 
took  a  bracelet  from  his  arm  and  gave  it 
to  him,  saying: 

"Take  this  as  thanks  for  your  good 
song." 

The  guests  stayed  the  next  day  and 
at  night  there  was  another  feast.     When 


In  Nor zv ay  61 

the  mead  horns  were  going  around,  King 
Harald  stood  up  and  spoke: 

' '  I  said  that  no  man  should  go  away 
empty-handed  from  drinking  my  father's 
funeral  ale." 

He  beckoned  the  thralls,  and  they 
brought  in  a  great  treasure -chest  and  set 
it  down  by  the  high  seat.  King  Harald 
opened  it  and  took  out  rich  gifts  —  capes 
and  sword-belts  and  beautiful  cloth  and 
bracelets  and  gold  cloak-pins.  These  he 
sent  about  the  hall  and  gave  something 
to  every  man.  The  guests  wondered  at 
the  richness  of  his  gifts. 

"This young  king  has  an  open  hand," 
they  said,  "and  deep  treasure-chests." 

After  breakfast  the  next  morning  the 
guests  went  out  and  stood  by  their  horses 
ready  to  go,  but  before  they  mounted, 
thralls  brought  a  horn  of  mead  to  each 
man.  That  was  called  the  stirrup-horn, 
because  after  they  drank  it  the  men  put 
their  feet  to  the  stirrups  and  sprang  upon 
their  horses  and  started.  King  Harald 
and  his  people  rode  a  little  way  with  them. 

All  men  said  that  that  was  the  richest 
funeral  feast  that  ever  was  held. 


Harald's    DattLe 

NOW  King  Halfdan  had  many  foes. 
When  he  was  alive  they  were  afraid 
to  make  war  upon  him,  for  he  was  a 
mighty  warrior.  But  when  Harald  be- 
came king,  they  said: 

"  He  is  but  a  lad.  We  will  fight  with 
him  and  take  his  land." 

So  the}7  began  to  make  ready.  King 
Harald  heard  of  this  and  he  laughed  and 
said: 

"  Good  !  'Foes'-fear'  is  thirsty,  and  my 
legs  are  stiff  with  much  sitting." 

He  called  three  men  to  him.  To  one 
he  gave  an  arrow,  saying: 

' '  Run  and  carry  this  arrow  north. 
Give  it  into  the  hands  of  the  master  of 
the  next  farm,  and  say  that  all  men  are 
to  meet  here  within  two  weeks  from  this 
day.  They  must  come  ready  for  war 
and  mounted  on  horses.  Say  also  that 
if  a  man  does  not  obey  this  call,  or  if  he 
receives  this  arrow  and  does  not  carry 

62 


In  Norway  63 

it  on  to  his  next  neighbor,  he  shall  be 
outlawed  from  this  country,  and  his  land 
shall  be  taken  from  him." 

He  gave  arrows  to  the  other  two  men 
and  told  them  to  run  south  and  east  with 
the  same  message. 

So  all  through  King  Harald's  country 
men  were  soon  busy  mending  helmets 
and  polishing  swords  and  making  shields. 
There  was  blazing  of  forges  and  clanging 
of  anvils  all  through  the  land. 

On  the  day  set,  the  fields  about  King 
Harald's  house  were  full  of  men  and 
horses.  After  breakfast  a  horn  blew. 
Every  man  snatched  his  weapons  and 
jumped  upon  his  horse.  Men  of  the  same 
neighborhood  stood  together,  and  their 
chief  led  them.  They  waited  for  the  start- 
ing horn.  This  did  not  look  like  our  army. 
There  were  no  uniforms.  Some  men  wore 
helmets,  some  did  not.  Some  wore  coats 
of  mail,  but  others  wore  only  their  jackets 
and  tights  of  bright-colored  wool.  But  at 
each  man's  left  side  hung  a  great  shield. 
Over  his  right  shoulder  went  his  sword- 
belt  and  held  his  long  sword  under  his 
left  hand.   Above  most  men's  heads  shone 


64  Viking  Tales 

the  points  of  their  tall  spears.  Some  men 
carried  axes  in  their  belts.  Some  carried 
bows  and  arrows.  Many  had  ram's  horns 
hanging  from  their  necks. 

King  Harald  rode  at  the  front  of  his 
army  with  his  standard-bearer  beside  him. 
Chain-armor  covered  the  king's  bod)7.  A 
red  cloak  was  thrown  over  his  shoulders. 
On  his  head  was  a  gold  helmet  with  a 
dragon  standing  up  from  it.  He  carried 
a  round  shield  on  his  left  arm.  The  king 
had  made  that  shield  himself.  It  was 
of  brass.  The  rivets  were  of  silver,  with 
strangely  shaped  heads.  On  the  back  of 
Harald's  horse  was  a  red  cloth  trimmed 
with  the  fur  of  ermine. 

King  Harald  looked  up  at  his  standard 
and  laughed  aloud. 

"Oh,  War-lover,"  he  cried,  "}rou  and 
I  ride  out  on  a  gay  journey." 

A  horn  blew  again  and  the  arm)7 
started.  The  men  shouted  as  they  went, 
and  blew  their  ram's  horns. 

"  Now  we  shall  taste  something  better 
than  even  King  Harald's  ale,"  shouted  one. 

Another  rose  in  his  stirrups  and  sniffed 
the  air. 


In  Norway  65 

"Ah  !  I  smell  a  battle,"  he  cried.  "It 
is  sweeter  than  those  strange  waters  of 
Arabia." 

So  the  army  went  merrily  through  the 
land.  They  carried  no  tents,  they  had 
no  provision  wagons. 

"The  sky  is  a  good  enough  tent  for 
a  soldier,"  said  the  Norsemen.  "Why 
carry  provisions  when  they  lie  in  the 
farms  beside  3^ou?" 

After  two  days  King  Harald  saw 
another  arm}^  on  the  hills. 

"Thorstein,"  he  shouted,  "up  with  the 
white  shield  and  go  tell  King  Haki  to 
choose  his  battle-field.  We  will  wait  but 
an  hour.     I  am  eager  for  the  frolic." 

So  Thorstein  raised  a  white  shield  on 
his  spear  as  a  sign  that  he  came  on  an 
errand  of  peace.  He  rode  near  King 
Haki,  but  he  could  not  wait  until  he  came 
close  before  he  shouted  out  his  message 
and  then  turned  and  rode  back. 

1 '  Tell  your  boy  king  that  we  will  not 
hang  back,"  Haki  called  after  Thorstein. 

King  Harald's  men  waited  on  the  hill- 
side and  watched  the  other  army  across 
the  valley.     They  saw  King  Haki  point 


66  Viking  Tales 

and  saw  twenty  men  ride  off  as  he 
pointed.  They  stopped  in  a  patch  of 
hazel  and  hewed  with  their  axes. 

"They  are  getting  the  hazels,"  said 
Thorstein. 

"Audun,"  said  King  Harald  to  a  man 
near  him,  "stay  close  to  my  standard  all 
day.  You  must  see  the  best  of  the  fight. 
I  want  to  hear  a  song  about  it  after  it  is 
over." 

This  Audun  was  the  skald  who  sang 
at  the  drinking  of  King  Half  dan's  funeral 
ale. 

King  Haki's  men  rode  down  into  the 
valley.  They  drove  down  stakes  all  about 
a  great  field.  They  tied  the  hazel  twigs 
to  the  stakes  in  a  string.  But  they  left 
an  open  space  toward  King  Harald's 
arm}^  and  one  toward  King  Haki's.  Then 
a  man  raised  a  white  shield  and  galloped 
toward  King  Harald. 

"We  are  ready!"  he  shouted. 

At  the  same  time  King  Haki  raised  a 
red  shield.  King  Harald's  men  put  their 
shields  before  their  mouths  and  shouted 
into  them.  It  made  a  great  roaring  war- 
cry. 


In  Norway  67 

"Up  with  the  war  shield!"  shouted 
King  Harald.     ' '  Horns  blow  ! " 

There  was  a  blowing  of  horns  on  both 
sides.  The  two  armies  galloped  down 
into  the  field  and  ran  together.  The  fight 
had  begun. 

All  that  day  long  swords  were  flashing, 
spears  flying,  men  shouting,  men  falling 
from  their  horses,  swords  clashing  against 
shields. 

"Victory  flashes  from  that  dragon," 
Harald's  men  said,  pointing  to  the  king's 
helmet.     "  No  one  stands  before  it." 

And,  surely,  before  night  came,  King 
Haki  fell  dead  under ' '  Foes'  -fear. "  When 
he  fell,  a  great  shout  went  up  from  his 
warriors,  and  they  turned  and  fled.  King 
Harald's  men  chased  them  far,  but  dur- 
ing the  night  came  back  to  camp.  Many 
brought  swords  and  helmets  and  brace- 
lets or  silver-trimmed  saddles  and  bridles 
with  them. 

"Here  is  what  we  got  from  the  foe," 
they  said. 

The  next  morning  King  Harald  spoke 
to  his  men  : 

"Let  us  go  about  and  find  our  dead." 


In  Norway  6g 

So  they  went  over  all  the  battle-field. 
They  put  every  man  on  his  shield  and 
carried  him  and  laid  him  on  a  hill-top. 
They  hung  his  sword  over  his  shoulder 
and  laid  his  spear  by  his  side.  So  they 
laid  all  the  dead  together  there  on  the 
hill-top.  Then  King  Harald  said,  looking 
about : 

"This  is  a  good  place  to  lie.  It  looks 
far  over  the  county.  The  sound  of  the 
sea  reaches  it.  The  wind  sweeps  here. 
It  is  a  good  grave  for  Norsemen  and 
Vikings.  But  it  is  a  long  road  and  a 
rough  road  to  Valhalla  that  these  men 
must  travel.  Let  the  nearest  kinsman  of 
each  man  come  and  tie  on  his  hell-shoes. 
Tie  them  fast,  for  they  will  need  them 
much  on  that  hard  road." 

So  friends  tied  shoes  on  the  dead  men's 
feet.     Then  King  Harald  said  : 

"  Now  let  us  make  the  mound." 

Every  man  set  to  work  with  what  tools 
he  had  and  heaped  earth  over  the  dead 
until  a  great  mound  stood  up.  They 
piled  stones  on  the  top.  On  one  of  these 
stones  King  Harald  made  runes  telling 
how  these  men  had  died. 


fo  I7 iking  Tales 

After  that  was  done  King  Harald  said: 

' '  Now  set  up  the  pole,  Thorstein.  Let 
every  man  bring  to  that  pole  all  that  he 
took  from  the  foe." 

So  they  did,  and  there  was  a  great  hill 
of  things  around  it.  Harald  divided  it 
into  piles. 

"This  pile  we  will  give  to  Thor  in 
thanks  for  the  victor}7,"  he  said.  "This 
pile  is  mine  because  I  am  king.  Here 
are  the  piles  for  the  chiefs,  and  these 
things  go  to  the  other  men  of  the  army." 

So  every  man  went  away  from  that 
battle  richer  than  he  was  before,  and 
Thor  looked  down  from  Valhalla  upon 
his  full  temple  and  was  pleased. 

The  next  morning  King  Harald  led 
his  army  back.  But  on  the  way  he  met 
other  foes  and  had  many  battles  and  did 
not  lose  one.  The  kings  either  died  in 
battle  or  ran  away,  and  Harald  had  their 
lands. 

"He  has  kept  his  vow,"  men  said, 
"and  ground  his  father's  foes  under  his 
heel." 

So  King  Harald  sat  in  peace  for  a  while. 


Gyda's  Saucy  Message 

NOW  Harald  heard  men  talk  of  Gyda, 
the  daughter  of  King  Eric. 

"She  is  very  beautiful,"  they  said, 
"but  she  is  very  proud,  too.  She  can 
both  read  and  make  runes.  No  other 
woman  in  the  world  knows  so  much 
about  herbs  as  she  does.  She  can  cure 
any  sickness.  And  she  is  proud  of  all 
this!" 

Now  when  King  Harald  heard  that,  he 
thought  to  himself : 

"Fair  and  proud.  I  like  them  both. 
I  will  have  her  for  my  wife." 

So  he  called  his  uncle,  Guthorm,  and 
said : 

"Take  rich  gifts  and  go  to  Gyda's 
foster-father*  and  tell  him  that  I  will 
marry  Gyda." 

So  Guthorm  and  his  men  came  to  that 
house  and  they  told  the  king's  message 
to  the  foster-father.  Gyda  was  standing 
near,  weaving  a  rich  cloak.     She  heard 

♦See  note  about  foster-father  on  page  197. 
71 


7 '2  Viking  Tales 

the  speech.  She  came  up  and  said,  hold- 
ing her  head  high  and  curling  her  lip  : 

' '  I  will  not  waste  myself  on  a  king 
of  so  few  people.  Norway  is  a  strange 
country.  There  is  a  little  king  here  and 
a  little  king  there — -hundreds  of  them 
scattered  about.  Now  in  Denmark  there 
is  but  one  great  king  over  the  whole 
land.  And  it  is  so  in  Sweden.  Is  no 
one  brave  enough  to  make  all  of  Norway 
his  own  ? ' ' 

She  laughed  a  scornful  laugh  and 
walked  away  The  men  stood  with  open 
mouths  and  stared  after  her.  Could  it  be 
that  she  had  sent  that  saucy  message  to 
King  Harald  ?  They  looked  at  her  foster- 
father.  He  was  chuckling  in  his  beard 
and  said  nothing  to  them.  They  started 
out  of  the  house  in  anger.  When  they 
were  at  the  door,  Gyda  came  up  to  them 
again  and  said  : 

"Give  this  message  to  ypur  King 
Harald  for  me:  I  will  not  be  his  wife 
unless  he  puts  all  of  Norway  under  him 
for  m}^  sake." 

So  Guthorm  and  his  men  rode  home- 
ward across  the  country.     They  did  not 


"/  will  not  be  his  zvife  unless  he  puts  all  of  Norway  under  him  for 
my  sake" 


7/  Viking  Tales 

talk.  They  were  all  thinking.  At  last 
one  said  : 

' '  How  shall  we  give  this  message  to 
the  king? " 

"I  have  been  thinking  of  that," 
Guthorm  said;  "his  anger  is  no  little 
thing." 

It  Avas  late  when  they  rode  into  the 
king's  yard;  for  they  had  ridden  slowly, 
trying  to  make  some  plan  for  softening 
the  message,  but  they  had  thought  of 
none. 

"I  see  light  through  the  wind's-eyes 
of  the  feast  hall,"  one  said. 

"Yes,  the  king  keeps  feast,"  Guthorm 
said.  "We  must  give  our  message 
before   all   his   guests." 

So  they  went  in  with  very  heavy 
hearts.  There  sat  King  Harald  in  the 
high  seat.  The  benches  on  both  sides 
were  full  of  men.  The  tables  had  been 
taken  out,  and  the  mead-horns  were 
going  round. 

"Oh,  ho!"  cried  King  Harald.  "Our 
messengers!     What  news?" 

Then  Guthorm  said: 

"This  Gyda  is  a  bold  and  saucy  girl, 


In  Norway  75 

King  Harald.  My  tongue  refuses  to  give 
her  message." 

The  king  stamped  his  foot. 

"Out  with  it !  "  he  cried.  "  What  does 
she  say?" 

"She  says  that  she  will  not  marry 
so  little  a  king,"  Guthorm  answered. 

Harald  jumped  to  his  feet.  His  face 
flushed  red.  Guthorm  stretched  out  his 
hand. 

"They  are  not  my  words,  O  King ;  they 
are  the  words  of  a  silly  girl." 

' '  Is  there  any  more  ?"  the  king  shouted. 
"Goon!" 

"She  said:  'There  is  one  king  in  Den- 
mark and  one  king  in  Sweden.  Is  there 
no  man  brave  enough  to  make  himself 
king  of  all  Norway  ?  Tell  King  Harald 
that  I  will  not  marry  him  unless  he 
puts  all  of  Norway  under  him  for  my 
sake.'" 

The  guests  sat  speechless,  staring  at 
Guthorm.  All  at  once  the  king  broke 
into  a  roar  of  laughter. 

"By  the  hammer  of  Thor ! "  he  cried, 
"that  is  a  good  message.  I  thank  you, 
Gyda.     Did  you  hear  it.  friends  ?     King 


y 6  Viking  Tales 

of  all  Norway  !  Why,  we  are  all  stupids. 
Why  did  we  not  think  of  that?" 

Then  he  raised  his  horn  high. 

"  Now  hear  my  vow.  I  say  that  I  will 
not  cut  my  hair  or  comb  it  until  I  am 
king  of  all  Norway.  That  I  will  be  or  I 
will  die." 

Then  he  drank  off  the  horn  of  mead, 
and  while  he  drank  it,  all  the  men  in  the 
hall  stood  up  and  waved  their  swords  and 
shouted  and  shouted.  That  old  hall  in 
all  its  two  hundred  years  of  feasts  had 
not  heard  such  a  noise  before. 

"Ah,  Harald  !"  Guthorm  cried,  "surely 
Thor  in  Valhalla  smiled  when  he  heard 
that  vow." 

The  men  sat  all  night  talking  of  that 
wonderful  vow. 

On  the  very  next  day  King  Harald  sent 
out  his  war-arrows.  Soon  a  great  army 
was  gathered.  They  marched  through 
the  country  north  and  south  and  east  and 
west,  burning  houses  and  fighting  battles 
as  they  went.  People  fled  before  them, 
some  to  their  own  kings,  some  inland  to 
the  deep  woods  and  hid  there.  But  some 
went  to  King  Harald  and  said: 


In  Norway  77 

"We  will  be  your  men." 

"Then  take  the  oath,  and  I  will  be 
friends  with  3rou,"  he  said. 

The  men  took  off  their  swords  and 
laid  them  down  and  came  one  by  one 
and  knelt  before  the  king.  They  put 
their  heads  between  his  knees  and  said: 

"From  this  day,  Harald  Halfdanson, 
I  am  }Tour  man.  I  will  serve  you  in  war. 
For  my  land  I  will  pay  you  taxes.  I  will 
be  faithful  to  37ou  as  my  king." 

Then  Harald  said : 

' '  I  am  }^our  king,  and  I  will  be  faithful 
to  you." 

Many  kings  took  that  oath  and  thou- 
sands of  common  men.  Of  all  the  battles 
that  Harald  fought,  he  did  not  lose  one. 

Now  for  a  long  time  the  king's  hair 
and  beard  had  not  been  combed  or  cut. 
They  stood  out  around  his  head  in  a  great 
bushy  mat  of  3rellow.  At  a  feast  one  day 
when  the  jokes  were  going  round,  Har- 
ald's  uncle  said: 

"Harald,  I  will  give  3^011  a  new  name. 
After  this  3rou  shall  be  called  Harald 
Shockhead.  As  my  naming  gift  I  give 
you  this  drinking-horn." 


y8  Viking  Tales 

"It  is  a  good  name,"  laughed  all  the 
men. 

After  that  all  people  called  him  Harald 
Shockhead. 

During  these  wars,  whenever  King 
Harald  got  a  country  for  his  own,  this  is 
what  he  did.     He  said: 

"All  the  marshland  and  the  woodland 
where  no  people  live  is  mine.  For  his 
farm  every  man  shall  pay  me  taxes." 

Over  every  county  he  put  some  brave, 
wise  man  and  called  him  Earl.  He  said 
to  the  earls: 

' '  You  shall  collect  the  taxes  and  pay 
them  to  me.  But  some  you  shall  keep 
for  37ourselves.  You  shall  punish  any 
man  who  steals  or  murders  or  does  any 
wicked  thing.  When  your  people  are  in 
trouble  they  shall  come  to  you,  and  you 
shall  set  the  thing  right.  You  must 
keep  peace  in  the  land.  I  will  not 
have  my  people  troubled  with  robber 
vikings." 

The  earls  did  all  these  things  as  best 
they  could;  for  they  were  good  strong 
men.  The  farmers  were  happy.  They 
said: 


In  Norway  yg 

"We  can  work  on  our  farms  with  peace 
now.  Before  King  Harald  came,  some- 
thing was  always  wrong.  The  vikings 
would  come  and  steal  our  gold  and  our 
grain  and  burn  our  houses,  or  the  king 
would  call  us  to  war.  Those  little  kings 
are  always  fighting.  It  is  better  under 
King  Harald." 

But  the  chiefs,  who  liked  to  fight  and 
go  a-viking,  hated  King  Harald  and  his 
new  ways.  One  of  these  chiefs  was  Solfi. 
He  was  a  king's  son.  Harald  had  killed 
his  father  in  battle.  Solfi  had  been  in 
that  battle.  At  the  end  of  it  he  fled  away 
with  two  hundred  men  and  got  into  ships. 

' '  We  will  make  that  Shockhead  smart, " 
he  said. 

So  they  harried  the  coast  of  King 
Harald's  country.  They  filled  their  ships 
with  gold.  They  ate  other  men's  meals. 
They  burned  farmhouses  behind  them. 
The  people  cried  out  to  the  earls  for  help. 
So  the  earls  had  out  their  ships  all  the 
time  trying  to  catch  Solfi,  but  he  was  too 
clever  for  them. 

In  the  spring  he  went  to  a  certain 
king,  Audbiorn,  and  said  to  him: 


So  I  7  k  i  ng  Ta  les 

"Now,  there  are  two  things  that  we 
can  do.  We  can  become  this  Shockhead 
Harald's  thralls,  we  can  kneel  before  him 
and  put  our  heads  between  his  knees.  Or 
else  we  can  fight.  My  father  thought  it 
better  to  die  in  battle  than  to  be  any 
man's  thrall.  How  is  it  ?  Will  you  join 
with  my  cousin  Arnvid  and  me  against 
this  young  Shockhead  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  will  do  it,"  said  the  king. 


The      Sea     Fi£ht 

MANY  men  felt  as  Solfi  did.  So 
when  King  Audbiorn  and  King 
Arnvid  sent  out  their  war  arrows,  a  great 
host  gathered.  All  men  came  by  sea. 
Two  hundred  ships  lay  at  anchor  in  the 
fiord,  looking  like  strange  swimming 
animals  because  of  their  high  carved 
prows  and  bright  paint.  There  were  red 
and  gold  dragons  with  long  necks  and 
curved  tails.  Sea-horses  reared  out  of 
the  water.  Green  and  gold  snakes  coiled 
up.  Sea-hawks  sat  with  spread  wings 
ready  to  fly.  And  among  all  these 
curved  necks  stood  up  the  tall,  straight 
masts  with  the  long  yardarms  swinging 
across  them  holding  the  looped-up  sails. 
When  the  starting  horn  blew,  and 
their  sails  were  let  down,  it  was  like  the 
spreading  of  hundreds  of  curious  flags. 
Some  were  striped  black  and  yellow  or 
blue  and  gold.  Some  were  white  with  a 
black  raven  or  a  brown  bear  embroidered 
on  them,  or  blue  with  a  white  sea-hawk, 

C  Si 


82  Viking  Tales 

or  black  with  a  gold  sun.  Some  were 
edged  with  fur.  As  the  wind  filled  the 
gaudy  sails,  and  the  ships  moved  off,  the 
men  waved  their  hands  to  the  women  on 
shore  and  sang : 

"To  the  sea!   To  the  sea! 

The  wind  in  our  sail, 

The  sea  in  our  face, 

And  the  smell  of  the  fight. 

After  ship  meets  ship, 

In  the  quarrel  of  swords 

King  Harald  shall  lie 

In  the  caves  under  sea 

And  Norsemen  shall  laugh." 
In  the  prow  stood  men  leaning  forward 
and  sniffing  the  salt  air  with  joy.     Some 
were  talking  of  King  Harald. 

"Yesterday  he  had  a  hard  fight,"  they 
said.  "To-day  he  will  be  lying  still, 
dressing  his  wounds  and  mending  his 
ships.  We  shall  take  him  b}^  surprise." 
They  sailed  near  the  coast.  Solfl  in 
his  "Sea-haAvk"  was  ahead  leading  the 
way.  Suddenly  men  saw  his  sail  veer 
and  his  oars  flash  out.  He  had  quickly 
turned  his  boat  and  was  rowing  back. 
He  came  close  to  King  Arnvid  and 
called : 


In  Norway  8j 

"He  is  there,  ahead.  His  boats  are 
ready  in  line  of  battle.  The  fox  has  not 
been  asleep." 

King  Arnvid  blew  his  horn.  Slowly 
his  boats  came  into  line  with  his  "Sea- 
stag"  in  the  middle.  Again  he  blew  his 
horn.  Cables  were  thrown  across  from 
one  prow  to  the  next,  and  all  the  ships 
were  tied  together  so  that  their  sides 
touched.  Then  the  men  set  their  sails 
again  and  they  went  past  a  tongue  of 
land  into  a  broad  fiord.  There  lay  the 
long  line  of  King  Harald's  ships  with 
their  fierce  heads  grinning  and  mocking 
at  the  new-comers.  Back  of  those  prows 
was  what  looked  like  a  long  wall  with 
spots  of  green  and  red  and  blue  and 
yellow  and  shining  gold.  It  was  the 
locked  shields  of  the  men  in  the  bows, 
and  over  every  shield  looked  fierce  blue 
eyes.  Higher  up  and  farther  back  was 
another  wall  of  shields  ;  for  on  the  half 
deck  in  the  stern  of  every  ship  stood  the 
captain  with  his  shield-guard  of  a  dozen 
men. 

Arnvid's  people  had  furled  their  sails 
and  were  taking  down  the  masts,  but  the 


<£/  I* iking  Tales 

ships  were  still  drifting  on  with  the  wind. 
The  horn  blew,  and  quickly  every  man 
sprang  to  his  place  in  bow  and  stern. 
All  were  leaning  forward  with  clenched 
teeth  and  widespread  nostrils.  They 
were  clutching  their  naked  swords  in 
their  hands.  Their  flashing  eyes  looked 
over  their  shields. 

Soon  King  Arnvid's  ships  crashed  into 
Harald's  line,  and  immediately  the  men 
in  the  bows  began  to  swing  their  swords 
at  one  another.  The  soldiers  of  the 
shield-guard  on  the  high  decks  began  to 
throw  darts  and  stones  and  to  shoot 
arrows  into  the  ships  opposite  them. 

So  in  ever}-  ship  showers  of  stones  and 
arrows  were  falling,  and  many  men  died 
under  them  or  got  broken  arms  or  legs. 
Spears  were  hurled  from  deck  to  deck 
and  many  of  them  bit  deep  into  men's 
bodies.  In  every  bow  men  slashed  with 
their  swords  at  the  foes  in  the  opposite 
ship.  Some  jumped  upon  the  gunwale  to 
get  nearer  or  hung  from  the  prow-head. 
Some  even  leaped  into  the  enemy's  boat. 

King  Harald's  ship  lay  prow  to  prow 
with  King  Arnvid's.    The  battle  had  been 


In  Norway  85 

going  on  for  an  hour.  King  Harald  was 
still  in  the  stern  on  the  deck.  There  was 
a  dent  in  his  helmet  where  a  great  stone 
had  struck.  There  was  a  gash  in  his 
shoulder  where  a  spear  had  cut.  But 
he  was  still  fighting  and  laughed  as  he 
worked. 

"Wolf  meets  wolf  to-day,"  he  said. 
"But  things  are  going  badly  in  the 
prow,"  he  cried.  "  Ivar  fallen,  Thorstein 
wounded,  a  dozen  men  lying  in  the 
bottom  of  the  boat!" 

He  leaped  down  from  the  deck  and  ran 
along  the  gunwale,  shouting  as  he  went : 

"  Harald  and  victory  ! " 

So  he  came  to  the  bow  and  stood 
swinging  his  sword  as  fast  as  he  breathed. 
Every  time  it  hit  a  man  of  Arnvid's  men. 
Harald's  own  warriors  cheered,  seeing 
him. 

"Harald  and  victory!"  they  shouted, 
and  went  to  work  again  with  good  heart. 

Slowly  King  Arnvid's  men  fell  back 
before  Harald's  biting  sword.  Then  Har- 
ald's men  threw  a  great  hook  into  that 
boat  and  pulled  it  alongside  and  still 
pushed  King  Arnvid's  people  back. 


86  Viking  Tales 


& 


"Come  on  !  Follow  me  !"  cried  Harald. 

Then  he  leaped  into  King  Arnvid's 
boat,  and  his  warriors  followed  him. 

"He  comes  like  a  mad  wolf,"  King 
Arnvid's  men  said,  and  they  turned  and 
ran  back  below  the  deck. 

Then  Arnvid  himself  leaped  down  and 
stood  with  his  sword  raised. 

' '  Can  this  young  Shockhead  make  cow- 
ards of  you  all?"  he  cried. 

But  Harald' s  sword  struck  him,  and 
he  fell  dead.  Then  a  big,  bloody  viking 
of  King  Arnvid  leaped  upon  the  edge  of 
the  ship  and  stood  there.  He  held  his 
drinking-horn  and  his  sword  high  in  his 
hands. 

"Ran*  and  not  you,  Shockhead,  shall 
have  them  and  me  !  "  he  cried,  and  leaped 
laughing  into  the  water  and  was  drowned. 

Many  other  warriors  chose  the  same 
death  on  that  terrible  day. 

All  along  the  line  of  boats  men  fought 
for  hours.  In  some  places  the  cables  had 
been  cut,  and  the  boats  had  drifted  apart. 
Ships  lay  scattered  about  two  by  two, 
fighting.      Many  boats  sank,  many  men 

*  See  note  about  Ran  on  page  198. 


'■'■Then  he  leaped  into  King  Arnvid's  boat' 


S8 


Viking  Tales 


died,  some  fled  away  in  their  ships,  and 
at  the  end  King  Harald  had  won  the 
battle.  So  he  had  King  Arnvid's  country 
and  King  Audbiorn's  country.  Many 
men  took  the  oath  and  became  his 
friends.  All  people  were  talking  of  his 
wonderful  battles. 


Kin£  Harald's  Wedding 

IT  had  taken  King  Harald  ten  years  to 
fight  so  many  battles.  And  all  that 
time  he  had  not  cut  his  hair  or  combed  it. 
Now  he  was  feasting  one  day  at  an  earl's 
house.     Many  people  were  there. 

"How  is  it,  friends?"  Harald  said. 
"Have  I  kept  my  vow?" 

His  friends  answered  : 

"You  have  kept  your  vow.  There  is 
no  king  but  you  in  all  Norwa}7." 

"Then  I  think  I  will  cut  my  hair,"  the 
king  laughed. 

So  he  went  and  bathed  and  put.  on 
fresh  clothes.  Then  the  earl  cut  his  hair 
and  beard  and  combed  them  and  put  a 
gold  band  about  his  head.  Then  he 
looked  at  him  and  said  : 

"It  is  beautiful,  smooth,  and  yellow." 

And  all  people  wondered  at  the  beauty 
of  the  king's  hair. 

"1  will  give  }Tou  a  new  name,"  the 
earl  said.    "You  shall  no  longer  be  called 

89 


go  Viking  Tales 

Shockhead.     You  shall  be  called  Harald 
Hair  fair." 

"  It  is  a  good  name/'  everybody  cried. 

Then  Harald  said  : 

"But  I  have  another  thing  to  do  now. 
Guthorm,  you  shall  take  the  same  mes- 
sage to  Gyda  that  }^ou  gave  ten  years 
ago." 

So  Guthorm  went  and  brought  back 
this  answer  from  Gyda  : 

' '  I  will  many  the  king  of  all  Norway." 

So  when  the  wedding  time  came,  Har- 
ald rode  across  the  country  to  the  home 
of  Gyda's  father,  Eric.  Many  men  fol- 
lowed him.  They  were  all  richly  dressed 
in  velvet  and  gold. 

For  three  nights  they  feasted  at  Eric's 
house.  On  the  next  night  Gyda  sat  on 
the  cross-bench  with  her  women.  A 
long  veil  of  white  linen  covered  her  face 
and  head  and  hung  down  to  the  ground. 
After  the  mead-horns  had  been  brought 
in,  Eric  stood  up  from  his  high  seat 
and  went  down  and  stood  before  King 
Harald. 

"Will  you  marry  Gy^da  now?"  he 
asked. 


"/,  liar  aid,  King  of  Norway,  take  you,  Gyda,  for  ?ny  wife' 


g2  Viking  Tales 

Harald  jumped  to  his  feet  and  laughed. 

"  Yes,"  he  said.  "  I  have  waited  long 
enough." 

Then  he  stepped  down  from  his  high 
seat  and  stood  by  Eric.  The)7  walked 
about  the  hall.  Before  them  walked 
thralls  carrying  candles.  Behind  them 
walked  man}7  of  King  Harald's  great 
earls.  Three  times  they  walked  around 
the  hall.  The  third  time  the}7  stopped 
before  the  cross-bench.  King  Harald 
and  Eric  stepped  upon  the  platform,  where 
the  cross-bench  was. 

Eric  gave  a  hoi)7  hammer  to  Harald, 
and  it  was  like  the  hammer  of  Thor. 
Harald  put  it  upon  Gyda's  lap,  saying  : 

"With  this  holy  hammer  of  Thor's,  I, 
Harald,  King  of  Norway,  take  you,  Gyda, 
for  my  wife." 

Then  he  took  a  bunch  of  keys  and 
tied  it  to  Gyda's  girdle,  saying  : 

' '  This  is  the  sign  that  you  are  mistress 
of  my  house." 

After  that,  Eric  called  out  loudly  : 

"Now  are  Harald,  King  of  Norway, 
and  Gyda,  daughter  of  Eric,  man  and 
wife." 


In  Norway  gj 

Then  thralls  brought  meat  and  drink 
in  golden  dishes.  They  were  about  to 
serve  it  to  Gyda  for  the  bride's  feast,  but 
Harald  took  the  dish  from  them  and  said  : 

"No,  I  will  serve  m}^  bride." 

So  he  knelt  and  held  the  platter. 
When  he  did  that  his  men  shouted.  Then 
they  talked  among  themselves,  saying  : 

"Surely  Harald  never  knelt  before. 
It  is  always  other  people  who  kneel  to 
him." 

When  the  bride  had  tasted  the  food 
and  touched  the  mead-horn  to  her  lips 
she  stood  up  and  walked  from  the  hall. 
All  her  women  followed  her,  but  the  men 
stayed  and  feasted  long. 

On  the  next  morning  at  breakfast 
Gyda  sat  by  Harald' s  side.  Soon  the 
king  rose  and  said  : 

' '  Father-in-law,  our  horses  stand  ready 
in  the  yard.  Work  is  waiting  for  me  at 
home  and  on  the  sea.  Lead  out  the 
bride." 

So  Eric  took  Gyda  by  the  hand  and 
led  her  out  of  the  hall.  Harald  followed 
close.  When  they  passed  through  the 
door  Eric  said : 


gjf  Viking  Tales 

' '  With  this  hand  I  lead  my  daughter 
out  of  my  house  and  give  her  to  you, 
Harald,  son  of  Halfdan,  to  be  your  wife. 
May  all  the  gods  make  you  happy ! " 

Harald  led  his  bride  to  the  horse  and 
lifted  her  up  and  set  her  behind  his  saddle 
and  said : 

"  Now  this  Gyda  is  my  wife." 

Then  they  drank  the  stirrup-horn  and 
rode  off. 

"Everything  comes  to.  King  Harald," 
his  men  said  ;  "wife  and  land  and  crown 
and  victory  in  battle.  He  is  a  lucky 
man." 


Kin4  Harald  Goes  West-Over-Seas 


NOW  many  men  hated  King  Harald. 
Many  a  man  said  : 

"Why  should  he  put  himself  up  for 
king  of  all  of  us?  He  is  no  better  than  I 
am.  Am  I  not  a  king's  son  as  well  as  he? 
iVnd  are  not  many  of  us  kings'  sons?  I 
will  not  kneel  before  him  and  promise  to 
be  his  man.  I  will  not  pay  him  taxes.  I 
will  not  have  his  earl  sitting  over  me. 
The  good  old  da}rs  have  gone.  This 
Norway  has  become  a  prison.  I  will  go 
away  and  find  some  other  place." 

So  hundreds  of  men  sailed  away. 
Some  went  to  France  and  got  land  and 
lived  there.  Big  Rolf-go-afoot  and  all 
his  men  sailed  up  the  great  French  River 
and  won  a  battle  against  the  French  king 
himself.  There  was  no  way  to  stop  the 
flashing  of  his  battle-axes  but  to  give 
him  what  he  wanted.  So  the  king  made 
Rolf  a  duke,  gave  him  broad  lands  and 
gave  him  the  king's  own   daughter  for 

95 


g6  /  ri k  i  ng    Ta  les 

wife.  Rolf  called  his  country  Normandy, 
for  old  Norway.  He  ruled  it  well  and 
was  a  great  lord,  and  his  sons'  sons  after 
him  were  kings  of  England. 

Other  Norsemen  went  to  Ireland  and 
England  and  Scotland.  They  drew  up 
their  boats  on  the  river  banks.  The 
people  ran  away  before  them  and 
gathered  into  great  armies  that  marched 
back  to  meet  the  vikings  in  battle. 
Sometimes  the  Norsemen  lost,  but  oftener 
they  won,  so  that  the}7  got  land  and  lived 
in  those  countries.  Their  houses  sat  in 
these  strange  lands  like  warriors'  camps, 
and  the  Norsemen  went  among  their 
new  neighbors  with  hanging  swords  and 
spears  in  hand,  ever  read}7  for  fight. 

There  are  many  islands  north  of  Scot- 
land. They  are  called  the  Orkneys  and 
the  Shetlands.  They  have  many  good 
harbors  for  ships.  They  are  little  and 
rocky  and  bare  of  trees.  Wild  sea-birds 
scream  around  them.  On  some  of  them 
a  man  can  stand  in  the  middle  and  see 
the  ocean  all  about  him.  Now  the  vik- 
ings sailed  to  these  islands  and  were 
pleased. 


"//»  A'orzoay  they  left  burning  houses  and  weeping  wo?nen  " 


g8  Viking  Tales 

"It  is  like  being  always  in  a  boat," 
they  said.     "This  shall  be  our  home." 

So  it  went  until  all  the  lands  round 
about  were  covered  with  vikings.  Norse 
carved  and  painted  houses  brightened  the 
hillsides.  Viking  ships  sailed  all  the  seas 
and  made  harbor  in  every  river.  Norse- 
men's thralls  plowed  the  soil  and  planted 
crops  and  herded  cattle,  and  gold  flowed 
into  their  masters'  treasure-chests.  Norse 
warriors  walked  up  and  down  the  land, 
and  no  man  dared  to  say  them  nay. 

These  men  did  not  forget  Norway.  In 
the  summers  they  sailed  back  there  and 
harried  the  coast.  They  took  gold  and 
grain  and  beautiful  cloth  back  to  their 
homes.  In  Norway  they  left  burning 
houses  and  weeping  women. 

Every  summer  King  Harald  had  out 
his  ships  and  men  and  hunted  these 
vikings.  There  are  many  little  islands 
about  Norway.  They  have  crags  and 
caves  and  deep  woods.  Here  the  vik- 
ings hid  when  they  saw  King  Harald's 
ships  coming.  But  Harald  ran  his  boat 
into  every  creek  and  fiord  and  hunted  in 
every  cave  and  through  all  the  woods  and 


In  Norway  gg 

among  the  crags.  He  caught  many  men, 
but  most  of  them  got  awa}^  and  went 
home  laughing  at  Harald.  Then  they 
came  back  the  next  summer  and  did  the 
same  deeds  over  again.  At  last  King 
Harald  said: 

' '  There  is  but  one  thing  to  do.  I  must 
sail  to  these  western  islands  and  whip 
these  robbers  in  their  own  homes." 

So  he  went  with  a  great  number  of 
ships.  He  found  as  brave  men  as  he  had 
brought  from  Norway.  These  vikings 
had  brought  their  old  courage  to  their 
new  homes.  King  Harald's  fine  ships 
were  scarred  by  viking  stones  and 
scorched  by  viking  fire.  The  shields  of 
Harald's  warriors  had  dents  from  viking 
blows.  Many  of  those  men  carried  vik- 
ing scars  all  their  lives.  And  man}^  of 
King  Harald's  warriors  Avalked  the  long, 
hard  road  to  Valhalla,  and  feasted  there 
with  some  of  these  very  vikings  that 
had  died  in  King  Harald's  battles.  But 
after  many  hard  fights  on  land  and  sea, 
after  many  men  had  died  and  many  had 
fled  away  to  other  lands,  King  Harald 
won,  and  he  made  the  men  that  were  yet 


ioo  Vi  k  i  ng   Ta  le  s 

in  the  islands  take  the  oath,  and  he  left 
his  earls  to  rule  over  them.  Then  he 
went  baek  to  Norway. 

"He  has  done  more  than  he  vowed 
to  do,"  people  said.  "He  has  not  only 
whipped  the  vikings,  but  he  has  got  a 
new  kingdom  west-over-seas." 

Then  they  talked  of  that  dream  that 
his  mother  had. 

"King  Harald  was  that  great  tree," 
they  said.  ' '  The  trunk  was  red  with  the 
blood  of  his  many  battles,  but  higher 
up  the  limbs  were  fair  and  green  like 
this  good  time  of  peace.  The  topmost 
branches  were  white  because  Harald  will 
live  to  be  an  old  man.  Just  as  that  tree 
spread  out  until  all  of  Norway  was  in  its 
shade,  and  even  more  lands,  so  Harald 
is  king  of  all  this  country  and  of  the 
western  islands.  The  man)7  branches  of 
that  tree  are  the  man)7  sons  of  Harald, 
who  shall  be  earls  and  kings  in  Norway, 
and  their  sons  after  them,  for  hundreds 
of  vears." 


/WRT    ZT 


WEST-OVERSEAS 


Homes  in   Icela-ixci 


MEN  had  been  feasting  in  Ingolf's 
house.  But  there  was  no  laughing 
and  no  shouting  of  jokes.  Ingolf  sat  in 
his  high  seat  frowning  and  gloomy.  His 
head  hung  on  his  breast.  He  was  staring 
into  the  fire.  Now  he  raised  his  head 
and  looked  about  the  hall. 

"Comrades,"  he  said,  "what  shall  we 
do  ?  Herstein  and  Holmstein  died  by  our 
swords.  Their  kinsmen  hunger  to  kill  us. 
Besides,  when  Harald  hears  of  our  deed, 
there  will  not  be  a  safe  place  in  Norway 
for  us.  He  will  never  let  a  man  fight  out 
an  honest  quarrel.    Where  shall  we  go?" 

A  man  stood  up  from  the  bench. 

"We  have  friends  in  the  Shetlands," 
he  said.     "Let  us  find  homes  there." 

Then  Leif,  in  the  high  seat  opposite 
Ingolf,  stood  up. 

"No,  not  the  Shetlands,  my  foster- 
brother."     They    are    crowded    already. 

*  See  note  about  foster-brothers  on  page  197. 
103 


ioj.  Viking  Tales 

Besides,  Harald  will  not  long  keep  his 
hands  off  them.  Then  they  will  be  no 
better  than  Norway.  England  and  Ire- 
land and  Scotland  are  old.  My  eyes  ache 
for  something  new.  What  of  that  far 
island  that  Floki  found?  It  is  empt}^. 
We  could  choose  our  land  from  the  whole 
country.  There  is  good  fishing.  There 
are  green  valleys.  And  Butter  Thorolf 
says  that  butter  drops  from  every  weed. 
There  are  mountains  and  deserts  where 
we  may  find  adventure.  I  say,  let  us 
steer  for  Iceland  ! " 

When  he  stopped,  many  of  the  men 
shouted  : 

"Yes  !  Iceland  !" 

But  an  old  man  stood  up. 

'  We  have  all  laughed  at  that  tale  of 
Butter  Thorolf s,"  he  said.  "But  Floki 
himself  said  that  the  sea  about  the  island 
is  full  of  ice  that  pushes  upon  the  land, 
that  no  ship  can  live  in  that  water  in 
the  winter,  that  great  mountains  of  ice 
cover  the  island.  Did  not  all  his  cattle 
die  there  of  hungrer  and  cold,  and  did 
he  not  come  back  to  Norway  cursing  Ice- 
land?" 


West-Over-Seas  103 

"Oh,  Sigh  vat,  you  are  old  and  fear- 
ful," called  out  Leif,  and  he  laughed. 

Then  he  stretched  himself  up  and 
threw  back  his  head. 

' '  Are  we  afraid  of  ice  ?  Have  we  not 
seen  angry  water  before?  I  have  been 
hungry,  but  I  have  never  died  of  it. 
Surely  if  there  are  fish  in  the  sea  and 
grass  in  the  valleys,  we  can  live  there. 
I  should  like  to  stand  on  a  hill  and  look 
around  on  a  wide  land  and  think,  'This 
is  all  ours,'  and  out  upon  a  rough  sea  and 
think,  '  Far  off  there  are  our  foes  and 
they  dare  not  come  over  to  us.'  Besides, 
we  shall  have  no  Shockhead  Harald  to 
lord  it  over  us.  We  can  come  and  go  and 
feast  and  fight  as  we  please.  We  shall 
be  our  own  kings.  And  our  ships  will  be 
always  waiting  to  take  us  away,  when  we 
are  weary  of  it.  And  we  shall  see  things 
that  other  men  have  never  seen.  I  am 
tired  of  the  old  things.  Perhaps  in  after 
da}Ts  men  will  make  songs  about  'those 
foster-brothers,  Ingolf  and  Leif,  who 
made  a  new  country  in  a  wonderful  land, 
and  whose  sons  and  grandsons  are  mighty 
men  in  Iceland  !'  " 


106  Viking  Tales 

Ingolf  leaped  up  from  his  chair. 

"By  the  strong  arm  of  Thor  ! "  he 
cried,  "I  like  the  sound  of  it.  Now  I 
make  my  vow." 

He  raised  his  drinking-horn. 

"I  vow  that  I  will  find  this  Iceland  and 
pass  the  winter  there,  and  that  if  man 
can  live  upon  it  I  will  go  back  there  and 
set  up  my  home." 

"And  I  vow  that  I  will  follow  my 
foster-brother,"  cried  Leif. 

And  many  men  vowed  to  go. 

So  on  the  next  day  they  began  to  make 
read y  a  boat.  They  looked  her  over 
carefully  and  recalked  every  seam  and 
freshly  painted  her  and  put  into  her  their 
strongest  oars  and  made  her  a  new  sail. 

' '  This  will  be  the  longest  voyage  that 
she  ever  made,"  Ingolf  said. 

When  the  work  was  done,  the}7  put 
into  her  great  stores,  axes,  hammers,  fish- 
nets, cooking-kettles,  kegs  of  ale,  chests 
of  hard  bread,  chests  of  smoked  meat, 
brass  kettles  full  of  flour,  skin  bottles  of 
water.  The}7  stowed  these  things  away 
in  the  ends  of  the  ship.  When  they  were 
ready  they  put  in  four  head  of  cattle. 


West- Over-Seas  loy 

' '  We  shall  need  the  milk  and  perhaps 
the  meat,"  Ingolf  said. 

Many  men  wished  to  go,  but  Ingolf 
had  said  : 

' '  There  is  little  room  to  spare  and  little 
food  and  drink.  I  have  planned  for  half 
a  y^ear.  But  perhaps  we  must  be  sailing 
longer  than  that.  Our  food  may  run 
short.  We  must  not  have  extra  mouths 
to  feed.  There  are  thirty  oars  in  our 
boat.  I  will  take  011I37  one  man  for  every 
oar,  and  Leif  and  I  will  steer." 

So  the}^  started  off.  Leif  stood  in  the 
prow  leaning  forward  and  looking  far 
ahead,  and  he  sang  : 

"What  does  the  swimming  dragon  smell? 

A  stormy  sea,  an  empty  land, 

Hunger,  darkness,  giants,  fire. 

Leif  and  his  sword  do  laugh  at  that." 

They  sailed  for  days  and  saw  no  land. 
Sometimes  they  passed  ships  and  always 
made  sure  to  sail  close  enough  to  hail 
them. 

' '  Where  are  you  going  ? "  Ingolf  would 
call. 

"To  Norway,"  would  come  back  the 
answer. 


108  Viking  Tales 

' '  For  trade  or  fight  ? "  Leif  would  shout. 

Then  would  ring  out  a  great  laugh 
from  that  boat  and  this  answer : 

"A  shut  mouth  is  a  good  friend." 

So  the  two  ships  sailed  on,  and  the  men 
were  glad  to  have  heard  a  greeting  and 
to  have  called  one. 

But  at  last  there  were  the  Shetlands. 

"We  will  go  in  here  and  rest,"  Ingolf 
said. 

When  the}7  rowed  to  shore  a  certain 
Shetland  man  stood  there.  He  watched 
them  land  and  looked  them  all  over. 
Then  he  walked  up  to  Ingolf  and  said  : 

"  You  look  like  brave  men.  Welcome 
to  Shetland.  You  shall  come  to  my 
house  and  rest  }7our  legs  from  ship-going 
and  fill  your  stomachs.  I  hunger  for 
news  of  Norway." 

So  they  went  to  his  house  and  stayed 
there  for  three  days.  And  good  it  seemed 
to  be  near  a  fire  and  in  a  quiet  bed  and 
before  a  steaming  platter.  When  they 
went  to  the  shore  to  start  off  again,  the 
Shetland  man  had  his  thralls  cany  a  keg 
of  ale  and  a  great  kettle  of  cooked  meat 
and  put  them  into  the  ship. 


West-Over-Seas  iog 

"Think  of  me  when  you  eat  this,"  he 
said. 

Then  the  Norsemen  put  to  sea  again 
and  sailed  for  a  long  time. 

One  day  a  terrible  storm  came  up ;  the 
sky  was  black;  the  wind  howled  through 
the  ship.     Great  waves  leaped  in  the  sea. 

"Down  with  the  sail  and  out  with  the 
oars!"  Ingolf  shouted. 

So  the  men  furled  the  sail  and  took 
down  the  mast  and  laid  it  along  the  bot- 
tom of  the  boat.  As  they  worked,  one 
man  was  washed  overboard  and  drowned. 
The  men  sat  down  to  row,  but  the  tum- 
bling waves  tossed  the  boat  about  and 
poured  over  her  and  broke  three  of  the 
oars.  But  still  the  men  held  on.  They 
were  wet  to  the  skin  and  were  cold,  and 
their  arms  and  legs  ached  with  the  hard 
work,  and  they  were  hungry  from  the 
long  waiting,  but  not  one  face  was  white 
with  fear. 

"Ran,  in  her  caves  under  sea,  wants 
us  for  compan}^  to-night,"  Ingolf  laughed. 

So  they  tossed  about  all  night,  but  in 
the  morning  the  wind  died  down.  Great 
waves  still  rolled,  and  for  days  the  sea 


no  Viking  Tales 

was  rough,  but  they  could  put  up  the  sail. 
Then  one  day  Leif,  as  he  sat  in  the  pilot's 
seat,  jumped  to  his  feet  and  sang : 

"  To  eyes  grown  tired  with  looking  far, 

All  at  once  appeared  an  island, 

A  stretching-place  for  sea-legs, 

A  quiet  bed  for  backs  grown  stiff 

On  rowing-bench  on  rolling  sea. 

A  place  to  build  a  red  fire 

And  thaw  the  blood  that  sea-winds  froze." 

But  when  the)7  came  near  they  saw  no 
place  to  land.  The  island  was  like  a 
mountain  of  rock  standing  out  of  the 
water.  The  sides  were  steep  and  smooth. 
They  sailed  around  it,  but  found  no  place 
to  climb  up. 

"There  are  man}7  other  islands  here," 
said  Leif.     "We  will  try  another." 

So  he  steered  to  another.  It,  too,  was 
a  steep  rock,  but  one  side  sloped  down  to 
the  water  and  was  green  with  grass. 

"Oh,  I  have  not  seen  anything  so  good 
as  that  green  grass  since  I  looked  into 
my  mother's  face,"  one  man  said. 

There  was  a  little  harbor  there.  The 
men  rowed  in  and  quickly  jumped  out  and 
put  the  rollers  under  the  ship  and  pulled 


West-Over-Seas  in 

her  upon  shore.  Then  the}7  threw  them- 
selves down  on  the  grass  and  rolled  and 
stretched  their  arms  and  shouted  for  joy. 
After  that  they  built  a  fire  and  warmed 
themselves  and  cooked  a  meal  and  ate  like 
wolves.    They  slept  there  that  night. 

In  the  morning  before  Ingolf's  men 
started  away  they  were  standing  high 
up  on  the  hillside,  looking  about.  They 
saw  no  houses  on  any  of  the  islands,  but 
the)7  saw  smoke  rise  from  one  hillside. 

"Some  other  men,  like  us,  weary  of 
the  sea  and  stopping  to  rest,"  said  Ingolf. 

They  saw  the  island  that  they  had 
sailed  around  the  night  before. 

"There  can  surely  be  nothing  but 
birds'  nests  on  top  of  that,"  Sighvat  said. 

"Look!"  cried  another,  pointing. 

Men  were  standing  on  the  flat  top  of 
that  island.  They  were  letting  a  boat 
down  the  steep  side  with  ropes.  When 
it  struck  the  water,  the)7  made  a  rope  fast 
to  the  rock  and  slid  down  it  into  the  ship 
and  sailed  off. 

"Some  robber  vikings  from  Scotland 
or  Ireland,"  laughed  Leif.  "  It  is  a  good 
hiding  place  for  treasure." 


ii2  Viking  Tales 

Soon  Ingolf  and  his  men  got  into  their 
ship  and  were  off.    Old  Sighvat  grumbled. 

"Is  this  land  not  new  enough  and 
empty  enough  and  far  enough?  I  am 
tired  of  sea,  sea,  sea,  and  nothing  else." 

"We  started  for  Iceland,"  said  Ingolf, 
' '  and  I  will  not  stop  before  I  come  there. 
I  have  a  vow.  Did  you  make  none, 
Sighvat?" 

Then  they  were  on  the  water  again 
for  weeks  with  no  sight  of  land. 

' '  Oh  !  I  would  give  my  right  hand  to  see 
a  dragon  pawing  the  water  off  there  and 
to  fling  a  word  to  its  men,"  Sighvat  said. 

"No  hope  of  that,"  replied  Ingolf. 
"Only  three  dragons  before  ours  have 
ever  swept  this  water,  and  men  are  not 
sailing  this  way  for  pleasure  or  riches." 

So  only  the  desolate  sea  stretched 
around  them.  Sometimes  it  was  smooth 
and  shining  under  the  sun.  Often  it  was 
torn  by  winds,  and  a  gray  sky  hung  over 
it,  and  the  men  were  drenched  with  rain. 
Once  they  ran  into  a  fog.  For  three  days 
and  nights  they  could  not  see  sun  or  stars 
to  steer  by.  They  forgot  which  way  was 
north.      When  after  three  days  the  fog 


West- Over-Seas  uj 

lifted,  they  found  that  they  had  been 
going  in  the  wrong  direction,  and  they 
had  to  turn  around  and  sail  all  that  weary 
way  over  again.  But  at  last  one  after- 
noon they  saw  a  white  cloud  resting  on 
the  water  far  off.  As  they  sailed  toward 
it,  it  grew  into  long  stretches  of  black, 
hilly  shore  with  a  blue  ice  mountain  ris- 
ing from  it.  The  sun  was  going  down 
behind  that  mountain,  and  long  lines  of 
pink  and  of  shining  green,  and  great 
purple  shadows  streaked  the  blue. 

"It  is  Iceland  !"  shouted  the  men. 

"It  is  like  Asgard  the  Shining,"  Ingolf 
said. 

But  it  was  still  far  off.  Men  can  see 
a  long  way  there  because  the  air  is  so 
clear.  So  Ingolf  and  his  people  sailed  on 
for  hours  and  at  last  came  into  a  harbor. 
A  little  green  valley  sloped  up  from  it. 
On  one  side  was  the  bright  ice  mountain. 
Back  of  it  were  bare  black  and  red  hills. 
In  that  valley  Ingolf  and  his  men  drew 
up  their  boat  and  camped.  At  supper 
that  night  one  of  the  men  said  : 

"I  almost  think  1  never  felt  a  fire 
before  or  had  warm  food  in  my  mouth." 


ii/f  Viking  Tales 

The  men  laughed. 

"It  is  four  months  since  we  left  Nor- 
way," Ingolf  said.  "Few  men  have  ever 
been  on  the  sea  so  long." 

That  night  they  put  up  the  awning  in 
the  boat  and  slept  under  it. 

After  that  some  men  went  fishing 
every  day  in  the  rowboat  that  they  had. 
And  Ingolf  took  others,  and  they  sailed 
along  the  shore,  seeing  what  kind  of  a 
land  this  was.  But  winter  began  to  come 
on.    Then  Ingolf  said  : 

' '  Remember  what  Floki  said  of  the  ice 
and  the  rough  sea  in  winter.  Soon  we 
cannot  sail  any  longer.  Let  us  choose  a 
place  to  stay  and  build  a  hut  there  and 
cut  hay  for  our  cattle.' 

So  they  did.  Their  hut  was  a  little 
mean  thing  of  stones  and  turf.  They 
kept  the  cattle  and  the  hay  in  it.  Some- 
times they  slept  there,  when  it  was  very 
cold.  But  most  of  the  time  they  ate 
and  slept  by  a  great  bonfire  out  of  doors 
where  it  was  clean.     Leif  said  : 

"I  like  the  cold  air  of  the  sea  better 
than  the  bad-smelling  air  of  a  house, 
even  though  it  is  warm." 


West- Over -Seas  115 

Now  ever}^  day  Ingolf  and  Leif  and 
some  of  the  men  walked  about  the  island. 
At  night  they  all  sat  around  the  camp- 
fire  and  talked  of  what  they  had  seen 
during  the  da}^. 

"This  is  surely  a  wonderful  land," 
Ingolf  said  once.  "  It  is  at  the  same  time 
like  Niflheim  and  like  Asgard.  Here  is  a 
spot  green  and  soft,  a  sweet  cradle  for 
men.  Next  it  is  a  mountain  of  ice  where 
men  would  freeze  to  death.  And  next  to 
that  is  a  hill  of  rock  that  seems  to  have 
come  out  of  some  great  fire.  Yesterday  I 
saw  a  cave  on  the  seashore.  The  door 
of  it  was  big  enough  for  a  giant.  The 
waves  broke  at  the  doorstep.  A  terrible 
roaring  came  from  the  cave.  I  think  it 
is  the  home  of  a  giant.  I  think  that 
giants  of  fire  and  giants  of  frost  made 
this  island.  I  have  seen  great  basins  in 
the  rocks  filled  with  warm  water.  They 
looked  like  giants'  bath-tubs.  I  have 
seen  boiling  water  shoot  up  out  of  the 
ground.  I  have  walked,  and  have  felt 
and  heard  a  great  rumbling  under  me  as 
though  some  giant  were  sleeping  there 
and  turning  over  in  his  sleep.     One  day 


i/6  Viking  Tales 

I  stood  on  a  mountain  and  looked  inland. 
There  was  a  wide  desert  of  sand  and 
black  and  red  rock  with  nothing  growing 
on  it.  The  fierce  wind  blew  dirt  into  my 
eyes,  and  the  cold  of  it  froze  the  marrow 
in  my  bones.  When  I  have  seen  these 
things  I  have  cursed  the  country,  and  have 
said:  'The  gods  hate  Iceland.  I  will  not 
stay  here.'  But .  then  I  have  walked 
through  beautiful  warm  valleys  where 
the  winds  did  not  come.  I  saw  in  my 
mind  the  flowers  that  we  found  last  sum- 
mer. I  saw  our  cattle  feeding  on  the 
sweet  grass.  I  thought  of  the  sea  full  of 
good  fish.  I  saw  my  house  built  among 
green  fields,  and  my  wife  sitting  in  her 
home,  and  my  children  playing  among 
the  flowers  and  making  up  tales  about 
the  bright  ice  mountains.  I  saw  the 
wide,  rough  seas  between  me  and  Harald 
and  our  foes.  Then  I  thought  to  myself, 
'It  is  the  sweetest  home  on  earth.'  As 
for  me,  I  am  coming  here  to  live.  What 
do  you  sa}T,  comrades?" 

"Have  I  not  vowed  to  follow  you, 
foster-brother?"  said  Leif.  "And  indeed 
I  never  saw  a  land  that  I  liked  better. 


West-Over-Seas  ny 

I  don't  believe  in  your  giants.  My  sword 
is  my  god,  and  my  ship  is  my  temple,  and 
I  like  this  land  to  set  them  up  in." 

They  sat  about  the  fire  long  that  night 
making  plans. 

' '  You  shall  go  home  and  get  our 
women  and  our  things,  Ingolf,"  said  Leil. 
' '  I  will  off  to  Ireland  and  have  a  frolic. 
There  will  be  little  play  of  swords  in  this 
empty  land,  and  I  want  to  have  one  last 
game  before  I  hang  up  my  battle-knife. 
Besides,  I  will  come  to  you  with  a  ship  full 
of  gold  and  clothes  and  house-hangings 
such  as  we  cannot  get  here,  and  they  will 
cost  me  nothing  but  the  swing  of  a  sword." 

As  they  talked,  Ingolf  looked  up  at  the 
sky.  The  northern  lights  were  quiver- 
ing there.  They  were  like  great  flames 
of  }7ellow  and  green  and  red. 

"See,"  he  said,  and  pointed.  "  We  are 
not  so  far  that  the  gods  will  forget  us. 
There  is  the  flash  of  the  armor  of  the 
Valkyrias.  *  A  battle  is  on  somewhere, 
and  Odin  has  sent  his  maidens  to  choose 
the  heroes  for  Valhalla." 

Leif  only  laughed  and  lay  down  to  sleep. 

*  Sec  note  about  Valkyrias  on  page  198. 


118  Viking  Tales 

So  in  the  spring  they  all  went  back  to 
Norway.  Leif  got  ready  the  boat  again 
and  merrily  sailed  for  Ireland. 

4 '  Here  I  go  to  get  riches  for  our  new 
land,"  he  said. 

Ingolf  sethis  men  to  cutting  down  pines 
in  the  forest  and  some  to  building  a  new 
ship.  He  had  his  thralls  plant  large  crops  of 
grain  and  grind  flour  and  make  new  kegs 
and  chests  of  wood.  He  himself  worked 
much  at  the  forge,  making  all  kinds  of 
tools  —  spades,  axes,  hammers,  hunting- 
knives,  cooking  kettles.  The  women  were 
busy  weaving  and  sewing  new  clothes. 
Ingolf  sold  his  house  and  land  and  every- 
thing that  he  could  not  take  with  him. 

After  about  two  years  Leif  came  back. 
He  had  ten  thralls  that  he  had  got  in  Ire- 
land. He  took  Ingolf  aboard  his  ship  and 
raised  the  covers  of  great  chests.  Gold 
helmets,  silver-trimmed  drinking-horns, 
embroidered  robes,  and  swords  flashed 
out. 

' '  Did  I  not  say  that  I  would  come 
back  with  a  full  ship?"  he  laughed. 

At  last  all  things  were  ready  for  sta.rt- 


West-Over-Seas  iig 

' '  To-da}^  I  will  sacrifice  to  Thor  and 
Odin,"  Ingolf  said.  "If  the  omens  are 
good  we  will  start  to-morrow." 

"Well,  go,  foster-brother,"  laughed 
Leif.  "But  I  have  better  things  to  do. 
I  will  be  putting  the  cattle  into  the  ship 
and  will  have  all  ready." 

So  Ingolf  and  his  men  went  into  the 
forests  a  little  way.  There  in  a  cleared 
space  stood  a  large  building.  In  front  of 
this  temple  the  men  killed  two  horses  for 
Odin.  Ingolf  caught  some  of  the  blood 
in  a  brass  bowl.  He  raised  it  and  looked 
up  at  the  sky  and  said  : 

"All-wise  and  all-father  Odin,  and 
Thor  who  loves  the  thunder,  I  give  these 
horses  to  you.  Tell  me  whether  it  is 
your  will  that  we  go  to  Iceland." 

As  he  said  that,  a  raven  flew  over  his 
head.     Ingolf  watched  it. 

"  It  is  Odin's  will  that  we  go,"  he  said. 
"He  sent  his  raven"  to  tell  us.  It  is  flying 
straight  toward  Iceland." 

The  men  shouted  with  joy  at  that. 

Now  they  hung  some  of  the  meat  of 
the  horses  on  a  tree  near  the  temple. 

"For  the  ravens  of  Odin,"  they  said. 

*  See  note  about  Odin's  ravens  on  page  198. 


120  Viking  Tales 


& 


Ingolf  carried  the  bowl  of  blood  into 
the  temple.  He  went  through  the  feast 
hall  in  front  to  a  little  room  at  the  back. 
Here  stood  wooden  statues  of  the  gods  in 
a  semicircle.  Before  them  wTas  a  stone 
altar.  Ingolf  took  a  little  brush  of  twigs 
that  la)7  on  it  and  dipped  it  into  the  blood 
and  sprinkled  the  statues. 

"You  shall  taste  of  our  sacrifice,"  he 
said.  ' '  Look  kindly  on  us  from  your 
happy  seats  in  Asgard." 

Then  they  went  into  the  feast  hall. 
There  thralls  were  boiling  the  horseflesh 
in  pots  over  the  fire.  The  tables  were 
standing  read}7  before  the  benches.  In- 
golf walked  to  the  high  seat.  All  the 
others  took  their  places  at  the  benches. 
When  the  horns  came  round,  Ingolf  made 
this  vow  : 

' '  I  vow  that  I  will  build  my  house 
wherever  these  pillars  lead  me." 

He  put  his  hand  upon  a  tall  post  that 
stood  beside  the  high  seat.  There  was 
one  at  each  side.  They  were  the  front 
posts  of  the  chair.  But  the)7  stood  up 
high,  almost  to  the  roof.  They  were  won- 
derfully carved   and   painted  with   men 


West- Over -Seas  121 

and  dragons.  On  the  top  of  each  one 
was  a  little  statue  of  Thor  with  his 
hammer. 

At  the  end  of  the  feast  Ingolf  had  his 
thralls  dig  these  pillars  up.  He  had  a 
little  bronze  chest  filled  with  the  earth 
that  was  under  the  altar. 

' '  I  will  take  the  pillars  of  my  high  seat 
to  Iceland,"  he  said,  "and  I  will  set  up 
my  altar  there  upon  the  soil  of  Norway, 
the  soil  that  all  my  ancestors  have  trod, 
the  soil  that  Thor  loves." 

So  they  carried  the  pillars  and  the 
chest  of  earth  and  the  statues  of  the  gods, 
and  put  them  into  Ingolf's  boat. 

"It  is  a  well-packed  ship,"  the  men 
said.     "  There  is  no  spot  to  spare." 

Tools,  and  chests  of  food,  and  tubs  of 
drink,  and  chests  of  clothes,  and  fishing 
nets  were  stowed  in  the  bows  of  both 
boats.  In  the  bottom  were  laid  some 
long,  heavy,  hewn  logs. 

' '  The  trees  in  Iceland  are  little, "  Ingolf 
said.  ' '  We  must  take  the  great  beams  for 
our  homes  with  us." 

Standing  on  these  logs  were  a  few 
cattle   and   sheep  and   horses  and   pigs. 


122  Viking  Tales 

The  rowers'  benches  were  along  the  sides. 
In  the  stern  of  each  boat  was  a  little 
cabin.  Here  the  women  and  children 
were  to  sleep.  But  the  men  would  sleep 
on  the  timbers  in  the  middle  of  the  boat 
and  perhaps  they  would  put  up  the  awn- 
ing sometimes. 

At  last  everyone  was  aboard.  Men 
loosed  the  rope  that  held  the  boats.  The 
ships  flashed  down  the  rollers  into  the 
water,  and  Ingolf  and  Leif  were  off  for 
Iceland.  As  they  sailed  away  everyone 
looked  back  at  the  shore  of  old  Norway. 
There  were  tears  in  the  women's  eyes. 
Helga,  Leif's  wife,  sang  : 

"There  was  I  born.     There  was  I  wed. 
There  are  my  father's  bones. 
There  are  the  hills  and  fields, 
The  streams  and  rocks  that  I  love. 
There  are  houses  and  temples, 
Women  and  warriors  and  feasts, 
Ships  and  songs  and  fights  — 
A  crowded,  joyous  land. 
I  go  to  an  empty  land." 

There  was  the  same  long  voyage  with 
storm  and  fog.  But  at  last  the  people 
saw  again  the  white  cloud  and  saw  it 
growing  into  land  and  mountains.    Then 


West-Over-Seas  123 

Ingolf  took  the  pillars  of  his  high  seat 
and  threw  them  overboard. 

1 '  Guide  them  to  a  good  place,  O  Thor  ! " 
he  cried. 

The  waves  caught  them  up  and  rolled 
them  about.  Ingolf  followed  them  with 
his  ship.  But  soon  a  storm  came  up.  The 
men  had  to  take  down  the  sails  and 
masts,  and  they  could  do  nothing  with 
their  oars.  The  two  ships  tossed  about 
in  the  sea  wherever  the  waves  sent  them. 
The  pillars  drifted  away,  and  Ingolf  could 
not  see  them. 

"  Remember  your  pillars,  O  Thor  ! "  he 
cried. 

Then  he  saw  that  Leif  s  ship  was  being 
driven  far  off. 

"Ah,  my  foster-brother,"  he  thought, 
' '  shall  I  not  have  3^011  to  cheer  me  in  this 
empty  land  ?  O  Thor,  let  him  not  go 
down  to  the  caves  of  Ran  !  He  is  too 
good  a  man  for  that." 

On  the  next  day  the  storm  was  not  so 
hard,  and  Ingolf  put  in  at  a  good  harbor. 
A  high  rocky  point  stuck  out  into  the  sea. 
A  broad  bay  with  islands  in  the  mouth 
was  at  the  side.     Behind  the  rocky  point 


i2j.  Viking  Tales 

was  a  level  green  place  with  ice-moun- 
tains shining  far  back. 

After  a  day  or  two  Ingolf  said  : 

"  I  will  go  look  for  my  pillars." 

So  he  and  a  few  men  got  into  the  row- 
boat  and  went  along  the  shore  and  into 
all  the  fiords,  but  they  could  not  find  the 
pillars.  After  a  week  they  came  back, 
and  Ingolf  said  : 

' '  I  will  build  a  house  here  to  live  in 
while  I  look  for  the  posts.  This  way  is 
uncomfortable  for  the  women. " 

So  he  did.  Then  he  set  out  again  to 
look  for  the  pillars,  but  he  had  no  better 
luck  and  came  back. 

' '  I  must  stay  at  home  and  see  to  the 
making  of  hay  and  the  dr}dng  of  fish," 
he  said.  "  Winter  is  coming  on,  and  we 
must  not  be  caught  with  nothing  to  eat." 

So  he  sta3Ted  and  worked  and  sent 
two  of  his  thralls  to  look  for  the  holy 
posts.  They  came  back  every  week  or 
two  and  always  had  to  say  that  they 
had  not  found  them.  Midwinter  was 
coming  on. 

"Ah!"  said  Ingolf s  wife  one  day,  "do 
you  remember  the  gay  feast  that  we  had 


'Then  he  saw  that  Lei/'s  ship  was  being  driven  afar  off" 


126  Viking  Tales 


6 


at  Yule-time  ?  All  our  friends  were  there. 
The  house  rang  with  song  and  laughter. 
Our  tables  bent  with  good  things  to  eat. 
Walls  were  hung  with  gay  draperies. 
The  floor  was  clean  with  sweet-smelling 
pine-branches.  Now  look  at  this  mean 
house ;  its  dirt  floor,  its  bare  stone  walls, 
its  littleness,  its  darkness  !  Look  at  our 
long  faces.  No  one  here  could  make  a 
song  if  he  tried.  Oh!  I  am  sick  for  dear 
old  Norway." 

"It  is  Thor's  fault,"  Ingolf  cried.  "He 
will  not  let  me  find  his  posts." 

He  strode  out  of  the  house  and  stood 
scowling  at  the  gray  sea. 

f<Ah,  foster-brother! "  he  said.  ' '  It  was 
never  so  gloomy  when  you  were  by  my 
side.  Where  are  you  now  ?  Shall  I  never 
hear  your  merry  laugh  again  ?  That  spot 
in  my  palm  burns,  and  my  heart  aches  to 
see  you.  That  arch  of  sod  keeps  rising 
before  my  eyes.  Our  vows  keep  ringing 
in  my  ears." 

At  last  the  long,  gloomy  winter  passed 
and  spring  came. 

"Cheer  up,  good  wife,"  Ingolf  said. 
"Better  days  are  coming  now." 


TVest- Over -Seas  12/ 

But  that  same  day  the  thralls  came 
back  from  looking  for  the  posts. 

' '  We  have  bad  news, "  they  said.  ' '  As 
we  walked  along  the  shore  looking  for 
the  pillars  we  saw  a  man  lying  on  the 
shore.  We  went  up  to  him.  He  was  dead. 
It  was  Leif.  Two  well-built  houses  stood 
near.  We  went  to  them.  We  knew  from 
the  carving  on  the  door-posts  that  they 
were  Leif  s.  We  went  in.  The  rooms 
were  empty.  Along  the  shore  and  in  the 
wood  back  of  the  house  we  found  all 
of  his  men,  dead.  There  was  no  living 
thing  about." 

Ingolf  said  no  word,  but  his  face  was 
white,  and  his  mouth  was  set.  He  went 
into  the  house  and  got  his  spears  and  his 
shield  and  said  to  his  men  : 

"Follow  me." 

They  put  provisions  into  the  boat  and 
pushed  off  and  sailed  until  they  saw 
Leif  s  houses  on  the  shore  of  the  harbor. 
There  they  saw  Leif  and  the  men  who 
were  his  friends,  dead.  Their  swords 
and  spears  were  gone.  Ingolf  walked 
through  the  houses  calling  on  Helga 
and  on  the  thralls,  but  no  one  answered. 


128  Viking  Tales 

The  store  house  was  empty.  The  rich 
hangings  were  gone  from  the  walls  of 
the  houses.  There  was  nothing  in  the 
stables.     The  boat  was  gone. 

Ingolf  went  out  and  stood  on  a  high 
point  of  land  that  jutted  out  into  the 
water.  Far  along  the  coast  he  saw  some 
little  islands.  He  turned  to  his  men  and 
said  : 

' '  The  thralls  have  done  it.  I  think  we 
shall  find  them  on  those  islands." 

Then  he  went  back  to  Leif  and  stood 
looking  at  him. 

"What  a  shame  for  so  brave  a  man  to 
fall  by  the  hands  of  thralls  !  But  I  have 
found  that  such  things  always  happen  to 
men  who  do  not  sacrifice  to  the  gods.  Ah, 
Leif !  I  did  not  think  when  we  made  those 
vows  of  foster-brotherhood  that  this  would 
ever  happen.  But  do  not  fear.  I  remem- 
ber my  promise.  I  had  thought  that  a 
man's  blood  is  precious  in  this  empty 
land,  but  my  vow  is  more  precious." 

Now  they  laid  all  those  men  together 
and  tied  on  their  hell-shoes. 

' '  I  need  my  sword  for  your  sake,  foster- 
brother.    I  cannot  give  you  that.    But  }^ou 


West-Over -Seas  I2Q 

shall  have  my  spears  and  my  drinking- 
horn,"  said  Ingolf .  ' '  For  surely  Odin  has 
chosen  you  for  Valhalla,  even  though  you 
did  not  sacrifice.  You  are  too  good  a  man 
to  go  to  Ninheim.  You  would  make 
times  merry  in  Valhalla." 

So  Ingolf  put  his  spears  and  his  drink- 
ing-horn by  Leif.  Then  the  men  raised 
a  great  mound  over  all  the  dead.  After 
that  they  went  aboard  their  boat  and 
sailed  for  the  islands  that  Ingolf  had 
seen.  It  was  evening  when  they  reached 
them. 

"I  see  smoke  rising  from  that  one," 
Ingolf  said,  pointing. 

He  steered  for  it.  It  was  a  steep  rock 
like  that  one  in  the  Faroes,  but  they 
found  a  harbor  and  landed  and  climbed 
the  steep  hill  and  came  out  on  top.  They 
saw  the  ten  thralls  sitting  about  a  bonfire 
eating.  Helga  and  the  other  women  from 
Leif  s  house  sat  near,  huddled  together, 
white  and  frightened.  One  of  the  thralls 
gave  a  great  laugh  and  shouted: 

"This  is  better  than  pulling  Leif's 
plow.  To-morrow  we  will  sail  for  Ire- 
land with  all  his  wealth." 


ijo  1 7  k  i  ng  Ta  le s 

"To-morrow  you  will  be  freezing  in 
Niflheim,"  cried  Ingolf,  and  lie  leaped 
among  them  swinging  his  sword,  and  all 
his  men  followed  him,  and  they  killed 
those  thralls. 

Then  Ingolf  turned  to  Helga.  She 
threw  herself  into  his  arms  and  wept. 
But  after  a  while  she  told  him  this 
story  : 

' '  When  springtime  came,  Leif  thought 
that  he  would  sow  wheat.  He  had  but 
one  ox.  The  others  had  died  during  the 
winter.  So  he  set  the  thralls  to  help  pull 
the  plow.  I  saw  their  sour  looks  and 
was  afraid,  but  Leif  only  laughed  : 

' '  •'  What  else  can  thralls  expect  ? '  he 
said.     '  Never  fear  them,  good  wife.' 

"Now  one  day  soon  after  that  the 
thralls  came  running  to  the  house  calling 
out  : 

"  'The  ox  is  dead  !     The  ox  is  dead  !' 

"  Leif  asked  them  about  it.  They  said 
that  a  bear  had  come  out  of  the  woods 
and  killed  it,  and  that  they  had  scared 
the  beast  away.  They  pointed  out  where 
it  had  gone.  Then  Leif  called  his  men 
and  said  : 


West-Over-Seas  iji 

' '  'A  hunt !  I  had  not  hoped  for  such 
great  sport  here.  Ah,  we  will  have  a 
feast  off  that  bear  ! ' 

' '  So  they  took  their  spears  and  went 
out  into  the  woods.  As  soon  as  they  were 
gone,  the  thralls  came  running  into  the 
house  and  took  down  all  the  swords  and 
shields  from  the  wall  and  ran  out.  In 
some  way  they  met  my  lord  and  his  men 
in  the  woods  and  killed  them.  Then  they 
came  back  and  took  everything  in  the 
house  and  dragged  us  to  the  boat  and 
sailed  here." 

"  O  my  brother  ! "  said  Ingolf,  "where 
is  that  song  about  'those  two  foster- 
brothers,  Ingolf  and  Leif,  who  made  a 
new  country  in  a  wonderful  land,  and 
whose  sons  and  grandsons  are  mighty 
men  in  Iceland '  ?  But  come  home  with 
me,  Helga." 

So  they  took  the  women  and  Leif's 
things  and  Leif's  boat  and  sailed  home. 
The  next  day  after  they  came  to  Ingolf  s 
house,  Helga  said  : 

"We  have  made  your  family  larger, 
brother  Ingolf.  Will  you  not  take  Leif's 
two  houses  and  live  in  them?     He  does 


ij2  Viking  Tales 

not  need  them  now.  He  would  like  you 
to  have  them." 

"It  would  be  pleasant  to  live  there," 
Ingolf  said.     "I  thank  you." 

So  the  next  day  they  loaded  every- 
thing aboard  the  two  ships  and  sailed 
for  Leif  s  house.  There  they  stayed  for 
a  year.  Ingolf  still  sent  his  thralls  out 
to  look  for  the  pillars.  He  was  careful 
always  to  have  hay,  so  his  cattle  pros- 
pered. That  spring  he  planted  wheat,  but 
it  did  not  grow  well. 

"This  is  sickly  stuff, "  Ingolf  said.  "It 
takes  too  much  time  and  work.  It  is 
better  to  save  the  land  for  hay.  Perhaps 
we  can  sometime  go  back  to  Norway  for 
flour." 

At  last  one  day  the  thralls  came  home 
and  said  : 

"  We  have  found  the  pillars." 

Ingolf  jumped  to  his  feet.  He  cried 
out : 

"You  have  kept  me  waiting  three 
years,  Thor.  But  as  soon  as  my  house 
and  temple  are  built,  I  will  sacrifice  to 
you  three  horses  as  a  thank-offering." 

"It  is  a  long  way  off,   master,"  the 


West-Over-Seas  133 

thralls  said,  "and  we  have  found  much 
better  places  in  our  walks  about  the 
island." 

"Thor  knows  best,"  Ingolf  answered. 
"I  will  settle  where  he  leads  me." 

So  that  summer  they  loaded  every- 
thing into  the  ships  again  and  sailed  west 
along  the  coast  until  they  came  to  the 
place  where  the  pillars  were.  The  land 
there  was  low  and  green.  On  both  sides 
were  low  hills.  A  little  lake  glistened 
back  from  shore.  In  the  valley  were  hot 
springs,  with  steam  rising  from  them. 

"It  looks  like  smoke,"  the  men  said. 
"It  is  very  strange  to  see  hot  water  and 
smoke  come  out  of  the  ground." 

In  front  of  this  green  land  was  a  good 
harbor  with  islands  in  it.  Far  over  the 
sea  toward  the  north  shone  a  great  ice- 
mountain. 

"I  like  the  place,"  Ingolf  said.  "I  will 
make  this  land  mine." 

So  he  built  fires  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river  near  there,  and  stood  by  them  and 
called  out  loudly  : 

' '  I  have  put  my  fire  at  the  mouth  of 
these  rivers.    All  the  land  that  they  drain 


ijjj.  Viking  Tales 

is  mine,  and  no  man  shall  claim  it  but  me. 
I  will  call  this  place  Reykjavik."* 

Then  Ingolf  built  his  feast  hall.  He 
himself  carved  the  beams  and  the  door- 
posts. Gaity  painted  dragons  leaned  out 
from  the  doors  and  stood  up  from  the 
gables.  Men  and  animals  fought  on  the 
door-posts.  For  the  doors  he  made  at 
the  forge  great  iron  hinges.  Their  ends 
curved  and  spread  all  over  the  door.  Near 
his  feast  hall  he  built  a  storehouse  and  a 
kitchen  and  a  smithy  and  a  stable  and 
a  bower  for  the  women. 

"We  do  not  need  a  sleeping-house  for 
guests,"  he  said.  "Who  would  be  our 
guests?" 

He  roofed  all  his  buildings  with  turf.  It 
made  them  look  like  green  mounds  with 
gay  carved  and  painted  walls  under  them. 
He  built  also  a  temple,  and  on  that  was 
beautiful  carving.  In  this  he  set  up  those 
statues  that  had  been  in  his  old  temple. 
He  put  up,  too,  those  pillars  of  his  high 
seat  that  had  been  drifting  about  so  long. 
Under  them  he  laid  the  soil  of  Norway  that 
he  had  brought  in  the  little  bronze  chest. 


*  See  note  about  Reykjavik  on  page  199. 


West-Over-Seas  135 

"I  have  kept  my  vow,.  O  Thor  ! "  he 
cried. 

Then  he  sacrificed  three  horses  that 
he  had  promised  to  Thor.  After  that  was 
over,  he  said  : 

' '  Here  is  a  good  field  for  snort.  Let 
us  have  some  of  the  old  games  that  we 
used  to  play  at  home.  Who  will  wrestle 
with  me?" 

So  they  wrestled  there  and  ran  races 
and  swam  in  the  water.  The  women  sat 
and  looked  on. 

"Oh,  this  is  good  to  see  ! "  Helga  cried. 
"We  are  as  gay  as  we  used  to  be  in  old 
Norway." 

But  it  was  not  many  weeks  before 
Ingolf  said  : 

' '  I  wish  that  I  might  sometime  see 
sails  in  that  harbor.  I  wish  that  I  might 
think,  '  Around  this  point  of  land  is 
another  farm,  and  across  the  bay  is 
another.  I  can  go  there  when  I  am  very 
lonely.'  I  wish  that  I  might  sometime 
be  invited  to  a  feast.  I  wish  that  I  might 
sometimes  hear  the  good,  clanging  music 
of  weapons  at  play.  It  is  a  good  land, 
but  we  have  lived  alone  for  four  years. 


rj6  Viking  Tales 

I  am  hungry  for  new  faces  and  for  tid- 
ings of  Norway." 

One  night  as  he  and  his  men  sat  about 
the  long  fire  in  the  feast  hall,  a  servant 
threw  a  great  piece  of  wood  upon  the  fire. 
It  was  streaked  with  faded  paint  and  it 
showed  bits  of  carving. 

"See,"  said  Ingolf,  pointing  to  it, 
"see  what  is  left  of  a  good  ship's  prow  ! 
What  lands  have  you  seen,  O  dragon's 
head  ?  What  battles  have  you  fought  ? 
What  was  your  master's  name  ?  Where 
did  the  storm  meet  }tou  ?  Perhaps  he  was 
coming  to  Iceland,  comrades.  Would  it 
not  have  been  pleasant  to  see  his  sail  and 
to  shake  his  hand  and  to  welcome  him 
to  Iceland  ?  But  instead  he  is  in  Ran's 
caves,  and  onty  his  broken  prow  has 
drifted  here." 

Now  it  was  not  many  months  after 
that  when  one  of  the  men  came  running 
into  the  feast  hall,  shouting  : 

' '  A  sail !  a  sail  in  the  harbor  !  v 

All  those  men  gave  a  shout  with  no 
word  in  it,  as  though  their  hearts  had 
leaped  into  their  throats.  »They  jumped 
up  and  ran  to  the  shore  and  stood  there 


^•>^A'm- 


'■ Those  Icelanders  clapped  them  on  the  shoulders' 


ijS  Viking  Tales 

with  hungry  eyes.  When  the  men  landed, 
those  Icelanders  clapped  them  on  the 
shoulders,  and  tears  ran  down  their  faces. 
For  a  long  time  they  could  say  nothing  but 
' '  Welcome  !    Welcome  !  " 

But  after  a  while  Ingolf  led  them  to 
the  feast  hall  and  had  a  feast  spread  at 
once.  While  the  thralls  were  at  work, 
the  men  stood  together  and  talked.  Such 
a  noise  had  never  been  in  that  hall 
before. 

"We  have  already  built  our  fires  and 
claimed  our  land  up  the  shore  a  way," 
the  leader  said.  "Men  in  Norway  talk 
much  of  Ingolf  and  Leif,  and  wonder 
what  has  happened  to  them." 

Then  Ingolf  told  them  of  all  that  had 
come  to  pass  in  Iceland,  and  then  he 
asked  of  Norway. 

' '  Ah  !  things  are  going  from  bad  to 
worse,"  the  newcomers  said.  "  Harald 
grows  mightier  every  da}^.  A  man  dare 
not  swing  a  sword  now  except  for  the 
king.  We  came  here  to  get  away  from 
him.  Many  men  are  talking  of  Iceland. 
Soon  the  sea-road  between  here  and  Nor- 
way will  be  swarming  with  dragons." 


West-Over-Seas  ijg 

And  so  it  was.  Ships  also  came  from 
Ireland  and  from  the  Shetlands  and  the 
Orkne3rs. 

"  Harald  has  come  west-over-seas,"  the 
men  of  these  ships  said,  "and  has  laid 
his  heavy  hand  upon  the  islands  and  put 
his  earls  over  them.  They  are  no  place 
now  for  free  men." 

So  by  the  time  Ingolf  was  an  old  man, 
Iceland  was  no  longer  an  empty  land. 
Every  valley  was  spotted  with  bright 
feast  halls  and  temples.  Horses  and 
cattle  pastured  on  the  hillsides.  Smoke 
curled  up  from  kitchens  and  smithies. 
Gay  ships  sailed  the  waters,  taking  Ice- 
land cloth  and  wool  and  Iceland  fish  and 
oil  and  the  soft  feathers  of  Iceland  birds 
to  Norway  to  sell,  and  bringing  back 
wood  and  flour  and  grain. 

When  Ingolf  died,  his  men  drew  up 
on  the  shore  the  boat  in  which  he  had 
come  to  Iceland.  They  painted  it  freshly 
and  put  new  gold  on  it,  so  that  it  stood 
there  a  glittering  dragon  with  head  raised 
high,  looking  over  the  water.  Old  Sigh- 
vat  lifted  a  huge  stone  and  carried  it  to 
the  ship's  side.    With  all  his  strength  he 


140  Vi k i n g   Ta  les 

threw  it  into  the  bottom.  The  timbers 
cracked. 

"If  this  ship  moves  from  here,"  he 
said,  "then  I  do  not  know  how  to  moor 
a  ship.     It  is  Ingolfs  grave." 

Then  men  laid  Ingolf  upon  his  shield 
and  carried  him  and  placed  him  on  the 
high  deck  in  the  stern  near  the  pilot's 
seat  where  he  had  sat  to  steer  to  Iceland. 
They  hung  his  sword  over  his  shoulder. 
They  laid  his  spear  by  his  side.  In  his 
hand  they  put  his  mead-horn.  Into  the 
ship  they  set  a  great  treasure-chest  filled 
with  beautiful  clothes  and  bracelets  and 
head-bands.  Beside  the  treasure-chest 
they  piled  up  many  swords  and  spears 
and  shields.  They  put  gold -trimmed 
saddles  and  bridles  upon  three  horses. 
Then  they  killed  the  horses  and  dragged 
them  into  the  ship.  They  killed  hunt- 
ing-dogs and  put  them  by  the  horses; 
for  they  said  : 

"All  these  things  Ingolf  will  need  in 
Valhalla.  When  he  walks  through  the 
door  of  that  feast  hall,  Odin  must  know 
that  a  rich  and  brave  man  comes.  When 
he  fights  with  those  heroes  during  the 


West- Over -Seas  141 

da3^,  he  must  have  weapons  worthy  of 
him.  He  must  have  dogs  for  the  hunt. 
When  he  feasts  with  those  heroes  at 
night  he  must  wear  rich  clothes,  so  that 
those  feasters  shall  know  that  he  was  a 
wealthy  man  and  generous,  and  that  his 
friends  loved  him." 

Ingolf's  son  tied  on  his  hell-shoes  for 
the  long  journey. 

"If  these  shoes  come  untied,"  he  said, 
"I  do  not  know  how  to  fasten  hell-shoes." 

Then  he  went  out  of  the  ship  and  stood 
on  the  ground  with  his  famity.  All  the 
men  of  Iceland  were  there. 

"This  is  a  glorious  sight,"  they  said. 
"Surely  no  ship  ever  carried  a  richer 
load.  Inside  and  out  the  boat  blazes 
with  gold  and  bronze,  and,  high  over  his 
riches,  lies  the  great  Ingolf,  ready  to  take 
the  tiller  and  guide  to  Valhalla,  where 
all  the  heroes  will  rise  up  and  shout  him 
welcome." 

Then  the  thralls  heaped  a  mound  of 
earth  over  the  ship.  This  hill  stood  up 
against  the  sky  and  seemed  to  say: 
"Here  lies  a  great  man."  Sighvat  put  a 
stone  on  the  top,  with  runes  on  it  telling 


1 42  Viking  Tales 

whose  grave  it  was.  All  this  time  a 
skald  stood  by  and  played  on  his  harp 
and  sang  a  song  about  that  time  when 
Ingolf  came  to  Iceland.  He  called  him 
the  father  of  Iceland.  People  of  that 
countiw  still  read  an  old  story  that  the 
men  of  that  long  ago  time  wrote  about 
Ingolf,  and  they  love  him  because  he 
was  a  brave  man  and  "the  first  of  men 
to  come  to  Iceland." 


Eric      the     Red 


IT  was  a  spring  day  many  years  after 
Ingolf  died.  All  the  freemen  in  the 
west  of  Iceland  had  come  to  a  meeting. 
Here  they  made  laws  and  punished  men 
for  having  done  wrong.  The  meeting 
was  over  now.  Men  were  walking  about 
the  plain  and  talking.  Everybody  seemed 
much  excited.  Voices  were  loud,  arms 
were  swinging. 

"  It  was  an  unjust  decision,"  some  one 
cried.  "  Eric  killed  the  men  in  fair  fight. 
The  judges  outlawed  him  because  they 
were  afraid.  His  foe  Thorgest  has  many 
rich  and  powerful  men  to  back  him." 

"No,  no!"  said  another.  "Eric  is  a 
bloody  man.  I  am  glad  he  is  out  of  Ice- 
land." 

Just  then  a  big  man  with  bushy  red 
hair  and  beard  stalked  through  the  crowd. 
He  looked  straight  ahead  and  scowled. 

"There  he  goes,"  people  said,  and 
turned  to  look  after  him. 


143 


i-f-f  Viking  Talcs 

"His  hands  are  as  red  as  his  beard," 
some  said,  and  frowned. 

But  others  looked  at  him  and  smiled, 
saying  : 

"  He  walks  like  Thor  the  Fearless." 

"His  story  would  make  a  fine  song," 
one  said.  "As  strong  and  as  brave  and 
as  red  as  Thor  !  Always  in  a  quarrel.  A 
man  of  many  places  —  Norway,  the  north 
of  Iceland,  the  west  of  Iceland,  those 
little  islands  off  the  shore  of  Iceland. 
Outlawed  from  all  of  them  on  account  of 
his  quarrels.  Where  will  he  go  now,  I 
wonder?" 

This  Eric  strode  down  to  the  shore 
with   his   men   following. 

"He  is  in  a  black  temper,"  they  said. 
"We  should  best  not  talk  to  him." 

So  the}7  made  read}-  the  boat  in  silence. 
Eric  got  into  the  pilot's  seat  and  they 
sailed  off.  Soon  they  pulled  the  ship  up 
on  their  own  shore.  Eric  strolled  into 
his  house  and  called  for  supper.  When 
the  drinking-horns  had  been  filled  and 
emptied,  Eric  pulled  himself  up  and 
smiled  and  shouted  out  so  that  the  great 
room  was  full  of  his  bi^  voice  : 


"//<?  looked  straight  ahead  of  him  and  scowled" 


10 


1 46  Viking  Tales 

"There  is  no  friend  like  mead.  It 
always  cheers  a  man's  heart." 

Then  laughter  and  talking  began  in 
the  hall  because  Eric's  good  temper  had 
come  back.     After  a  while  Eric  said  : 

"  Well,  I  must  off  somewhere.  I  have 
been  driven  about  from  place  to  place, 
like  a  seabird  in  a  storm.  And  there  is 
always  a  storm  about  me.  It  is  my 
sword's  fault.  She  is  ever  itching  to 
break  her  peace-bands'"'  and  be  out  and 
at  the  play.  She  has  shut  Norway  to  me 
and  now  Iceland.  Where  will  }tou  go 
next,  old  comrade?"  and  he  pulled  out 
his  sword  and  looked  at  it  and  smiled  as 
the  fire  flashed  on  it. 

' '  There  are  some  of  us  who  will  follow 
you  wherever  you  go,  Eric,"  called  a  man 
from  across  the  fire. 

"Is  it  so?"  Eric  cried,  leaping  up. 
"Oh!  then  we  shall  have  some  merry 
times  yet.     Who  will  go  with  me  ?" 

More  than  half  the  men  in  the  hall 
jumped  to  their  feet  and  waved  their 
drinking-horns  and  shouted  : 

"I!     I!" 


*  See  note  about  peace-band*  on  page  199. 


"More  than  half  the  men  in  the  hall  jumped  to  their  jeet" 


1 4-8  Viking  Tales 

Eric  sat  down  in  his  chair  and  laughed. 

"O  3rou  bloody  birds  of  battle!"  he 
cried.  ' '  Ever  hungry  for  new  frolic  !  Our 
swords  are  sisters  in  blood,  and  we  are 
brothers  in  adventure.  Do  }tou  know 
what  is  in  my  heart  to  do?" 

He  jumped  to  his  feet,  and  his  face 
glowed.  Then  he  laughed  as  he  looked 
at  his  men. 

"I  see  the  answer  flashing  from  your 
eyes,"  he  said,  "that  you  will  do  it  even 
if  it  is  to  go  down  to  Niflheim  and 
drag  up  Hela,  the  pale  queen  of  the  stiff 
dead." 

His  men  pounded  on  the  tables  and 
shouted  : 

"Yes!   Yes!   Anywhere  behind  Eric!" 

"But  it  is  not  to  Niflheim,"  Eric 
laughed.  "Did  you  ever  hear  that  story 
that  Gunnbiorn  told?  He  was  sailing  for 
Iceland,  but  the  fog  came  down,  and  then 
the  wind  caught  him  and  blew  him  far 
off.  While  he  drifted  about  he  saw  a 
strange  land  that  rose  up  white  and  shin- 
ing out  of  a  blue  sea.  Huge  ships  of  ice 
sailed  out  from  it  and  met  him.  I  mean 
to  sail  to  that  land." 


West- Over-Seas  i^g 

A  great  shout  went  up  that  shook  the 
rafters.  Then  the  men  sat  and  talked 
over  plans.  While  they  sat,  a  stranger 
came  into  the  hall. 

' '  I  have  no  time  to  drink, "  he  said.  ' '  I 
have  a  message  from  your  friend  Eyjolf. 
He  says  that  Thorgest  with  all  his  men 
means  to  come  here  and  catch  you  to- 
night. Eyjolf  bids  you  come  to  him,  and 
he  will  hide  you  until  you  are  ready  to 
start ;  for  he  loves  you." 

"Hunted  like  a  wolf  from  corner  to 
corner  of  the  world  !"  Eric  cried  angrily. 
"Will  they  not  even  let  me  finish  one 
feast?" 

Then  he  laughed. 

"But  if  I  take  my  sport  like  a  wolf, 
I  must  be  hunted  like  one.  So  we 
shall  sleep  to-night  in  the  woods  about 
Eyjolf's  house,  comrades,  instead  of  in 
these  good  beds.  Well,  we  have  done  it 
before." 

"And  it  is  no  bad  place,"  cried  some  of 
the  men. 

' '  I  always  liked  the  stars  better  than  a 
smoky  house  fire,"  said  one. 

"Can  no  bad  fortune  spoil  your  good 


i^o  Viking  Tales 

nature?"  laughed  Eric.  "But  now  we 
are  off.  Let  every  man  carry  what  he 
can." 

So  they  quickly  loaded  themselves 
with  clothes  and  gold  and  swords  and 
spears  and  kettles  of  food.  Eric  led  his 
wife  Thorhild  and  his  two  young  sons, 
Thorstein  and  Leif.  All  together  they 
got  into  the  boat  and  went  to  Eyjolf's 
farm.  For  a  week  or  more  they  stayed 
in  his  woods,  sometimes  in  a  secret  cave 
of  his  when  they  knew  that  Thorgest 
was  about.  And  sometimes  Eyjolf  sent 
and  said  : 

"Thorgest  is  off.  Come  to  my  house 
for  a  feast." 

All  this  time  they  were  making  ready 
for  the  voyage,  repairing  the  ship  and 
filling  it  with  stores.  Word  of  what  Eric 
meant  to  do  got  out,  and  men  laughed 
and  said  : 

"Is  that  not  like  Eric?  What  will  he 
not  do?" 

Some  men  liked  the  sound  of  it,  and 
they  came  to  Eric  and  said  : 

"We  will  go  with  you  to  this  strange 
land." 


We  st-Over-Seas  151 

So  all  were  ready  and  they  pushed 
off  with  Eric's  family  aboard  and  those 
friends  who  had  joined  him.  They  took 
horses  and  cattle  with  them,  and  all  kinds 
of  tools  and  food. 

"  I  do  not  well  know  where  this  land 
is,"  Eric  said.  "  Gunnbiorn  said  only  that 
he  sailed  east  when  he  came  home  to  Ice- 
land. So  I  will  steer  straight  west.  We 
shall  surely  find  something.  I  do  not 
know,  either,  how  long  we  must  go." 

So  the}^  sailed  that  strange  ocean,  never 
dreaming  what  might  be  ahead  of  them. 
They  found  no  islands  to  rest  on.  They 
met  heavy  fogs. 

One  day  as  Eric  sat  in  the  pilot's  seat, 
he  said  : 

"  I  think  that  I  see  one  of  Gunnbiorn's 
ships  of  ice.  Shall  we  sail  up  to  her  and 
see  what  kind  of  a  craft  she  is?" 

"Yes,"  shouted  his  men. 

So  they  went  on  toward  it. 

"  It  sends  out  a  cold  breath,"  said  one 
of  the  men. 

They  all  wrapped  their  cloaks  about 
them. 

"It  is  a  bigger  boat  than  I  ever  saw 


152  Viking  Tales 

before,"  said  Eric.  "The  white  mast 
stands  as  high  as  a  hill." 

"It  must  be  giants  that  sail  in  it,  frost 
giants,"  said  another  of  the  men. 

But  as  they  came  nearer,  Eric  all  at 
once  laughed  loudly  and  called  out : 

' '  By  Thor,  that  Gunnbiorn  was  a  fool- 
ish fellow.  Why,  look  !  It  is  only  a  piece 
of  floating  ice  such  as  we  sometimes  see 
from  Iceland.  It  is  no  ship,  and  there  is 
no  one  on  it." 

His  men  laughed  and  one  called  to 
another  and  said  : 

"And  you  thought  of  frost  giants  ! " 

Then  they  sailed  on  for  days  and  days. 
The)7  met  many  of  these  icebergs.  On 
one  of  them  was  a  white  bear. 

"Yonder  is  a  strange  pilot,"  Eric 
laughed. 

' '  I  have  seen  bears  come  floating  so  to 
the  north  shore  of  Iceland,"  an  old  man 
said.  ' '  Perhaps  the}7  come  from  the  land 
that  we  are  going  to  find." 

One  day  Eric  said  : 

"I  see  afar  off  an  iceberg  larger  than 
an)7  one  yet.  Perhaps  that  is  our  white 
land." 


'//  is  a  bigger  boat  than  I  ever  sazv  be/ore' 


154  Viking  Talcs 

But  even  as  he  said  it  he  felt  his  boat 
swing  under  his  hand  as  he  held  the 
tiller.  He  bore  hard  on  the  rudder,  but 
he  could  not  turn  the  ship. 

"What  is  this?"  he  cried.  "A  strong 
river  is  running  here.  It  is  carrying  our 
ship  away  from  this  land.  I  cannot  make 
head  against  it.     Out  with  the  oars  !" 

So  with  oars  and  sail  and  rudder  they 
fought  against  the  current,  but  it  took 
the  boat  along  like  a  chip,  and  after  a 
while  they  put  up  their  oars  and  drifted. 

' '  Luck  has  taken  us  into  its  own 
hands,"  Eric  laughed.  "But  this  is  as 
good  a  way  as  another." 

Sometimes  they  were  near  enough  to 
see  the  land,  then  they  were  carried  out 
into  the  sea  and  thought  that  they  should 
never  see  an}7  land  again. 

' '  Perhaps  this  river  will  canw  us  to  a 
whirlpool  and  suck  us  under,"  the  men 
said. 

But  at  last  Eric  felt  the  current  less 
strong  under  his  hand. 

"To  the  oars  again  ! "  he  called. 

So  they  fought  with  the  current  and 
sailed  out  of  it  and  went  on  toward  land. 


West-Over-Seas  155 

But  when  they  reached  the  shore  they 
found  no  place  to  go  in.  Steep  black 
walls  shot  up  from  the  sea.  Nothing 
grew  on  them.  When  the  men  looked 
above  the  cliffs  they  saw  a  long  line  of 
white  cutting  the  sky. 

"It  is  a  land  of  ice,"  they  said. 

They  sailed  on  south,  all  the  time  look- 
ing for  a  place  to  go  ashore. 

"I  am  sick  of  this  endless  sea,"  Thor- 
hild  complained, ' '  but  this  land  is  worse. " 

After  a  while  they  began  to  see  small 
bays  cut  into  the  shore  with  little  flat 
patches  of  green  at  their  sides.  They 
landed  in  these  places  and  stretched  and 
warmed  themselves  and  ate. 

' '  But  these  spots  are  only  big  enough 
for  graves,"  the  men  said.  "  We  can  not 
live  here." 

So  they  went  on  again.  All  the  time 
the  weather  was  growing  colder.  Eric's 
people  kept  themselves  wrapped  in  their 
cloaks  and  put  scarfs  around  their 
heads. 

"And  it  is  still  summer!"  Thorhild 
said.     "What  will  it  be  in  winter?" 

' '  We  must  find  a  place  to  build  a  house 


1 56  Viking  Tales 

now  before  the  winter  comes  on,"  said 
Eric.      "We  must  not  freeze  here." 

So  they  chose  a  little  spot  with  hills 
about  it  to  keep  off  the  wind.  They  made 
a  house  out  of  stones ;  for  there  were 
many  in  that  place.  They  lived  there  that 
winter.  The  sea  for  a  long  way  out  from 
shore  froze  so  that  it  looked  like  white 
land.  The  men  went  out  upon  it  to  hunt 
white  bear  and  seal.  They  ate  the  meat 
and  wore  the  skins  to  keep  them  warm. 
The  hardest  thing  was  to  get  fuel  for  the 
fire.  No  trees  grew  there.  The  men 
found  a  little  driftwood  along  the  shore, 
but  it  was  not  enough.  So  they  burned 
the  bones  and  the  fat  of  the  animals  they 
killed. 

"It  is  a  sickening  smell,"  Thorhild 
said.  "  I  have  not  been  out  of  this  mean 
house  for  weeks.  I  am  tired  of  the  dark- 
ness and  the  smoke  and  the  cattle.  And 
all  the  time  I  hear  great  noises,  as  though 
some  giant  were  breaking  this  land  into 
pieces." 

"Ah,  cheer  up,  good  wife!"  Eric 
laughed.      "I  smell  better  luck  ahead." 

Once  Eric  and  his  men  climbed  the 


West- Over-Seas  i  $j 

cliffs  and  went  back  into  the  middle  of 
the  land.  When  they  came  home  they 
had  this  to  tell : 

"It  is  a  country  of  ice,  shining  white. 
Nothing  grows  on  it  but  a  few  mosses. 
Far  off  it  looks  flat,  but  when  3^011  walk 
upon  it,  there  are  great  holes  and  cracks. 
We  could  see  nothing  be}7ond.  There 
seems  to  be  only  a  fringe  of  land  around 
the  edge  of  an  island  of  ice." 

The  winter  nights  were  very  long. 
Sometimes  the  sun  showed  for  an  hour, 
sometimes  for  only  a  few  minutes,  some- 
times it  did  not  show  at  all  for  a  week. 
The  men  hunted  by  the  bright  shining  of 
the  moon  or  by  the  northern  lights. 

As  it  grew  warmer  the  ice  in  the  sea 
began  to  crack  and  move  and  melt  and 
float  away.  Eric  waited  only  until  there 
was  a  clear  passage  in  the  water.  Then 
he  launched  his  boat,  and  they  sailed 
southward  again.  At  last  they  found  a 
place  that  Eric  liked. 

"  Here  I  Avill  build  my  house,"  he  said. 

So  they  did  and  lived  there  that  sum- 
mer and  pastured  their  cattle  and  cut  hay 
for  the  winter  and  fished  and  hunted. 


158  Viking  Tales 

The  next  spring  Eric  said  : 

' '  The  land  stretches  far  north.  I  am 
hungry  to  know  what  is  there." 

Then  they  all  got  into  the  boat  again 
and  sailed  north. 

"  We  can  leave  no  one  here,"  Eric  had 
said.  "We  cannot  tell  what  might  come 
between  us.  Perhaps  giants  or  dragons 
or  strange  men  might  come  out  of  this 
inland  ice  and  kill  our  people.  We  must 
stay  together." 

Farther  north  they  found  only  the 
same  bare,  frozen  country.  So  after  a 
while  they  sailed  back  to  their  home  and 
lived  there. 

One  spring  after  they  had  been  in  that 
land  for  four  years,  Eric  said  : 

"  My  eyes  are  hungry  for  the  sight  of 
men  and  green  fields  again.  My  stomach 
is  sick  of  seal  and  whale  and  bear.  My 
throat  is  dry  for  mead.  This  is  a  bare 
and  cold  and  hungry  land.  I  will  visit 
my  friends  in  Iceland." 

"And  our  swords  are  rusty  with  long 
resting,"  said  his  men.  "  Perhaps  Ave  can 
find  play  for  them  in  Iceland." 

"Now  I  have  a  plan,"  Eric  suddenly 


West- Over-Seas  i$g 

said.  "Would  it  not  be  pleasant  to  see 
other  feast  halls  as  we  sail  along  the 
coast?" 

"Oh!  it  would  be  a  beautiful  sight," 
his  men  said. 

"Well,"  said  Eric,  "  I  am  going  to  try 
to  bring  back  some  neighbors  from  Ice- 
land. Now  we  must  have  a  name  for  our 
land.     How  does  Greenland  sound?" 

His  men  laughed  and  said  : 

"  It  is  a  very  white  Greenland,  but  men 
will  like  the  sound  of  it.  It  is  better  than 
Iceland." 

So  Eric  and  all  his  people  sailed  back 
and  spent  the  winter  with  his  friends. 

' '  Ah  !  Eric,  it  is  good  to  hear  your 
laugh  again,"  they  said. 

Eric  was  at  many  feasts  and  saw  many 
men,  and  he  talked  much  of  his  Green- 
land. 

' '  The  sea  is  full  of  whale  and  seals  and 
great  fish,"  he  said.  "The  land  has  bear 
and  reindeer.  There  are  no  men  there. 
Come  back  with  me  and  choose  your 
land." 

Many  men  said  that  they  would  do  it. 
Some  men  went  because  they  thought  it 


i do  Viking  Tales 

would  be  a  great  frolic  to  go  to  a  new 
country.  Some  went  because  they  were 
poor  in  Iceland  and  thought : 

"I  can  be  no  worse  off  in  Greenland, 
and  perhaps  I  shall  grow  rich  there." 

And  some  went  because  they  loved 
Eric  and  wanted  to  be  his  neighbors. 

So  the  next  summer  thirty-five  ships 
full  of  men  and  women  and  goods  fol- 
lowed Eric  for  Greenland.  But  they  met 
heavy  storms,  and  some  ships  were 
wrecked,  and  the  men  drowned.  Other 
men  grew  heartsick  at  the  terrible  storm 
and  the  long  voyage  and  no  sight  of  land, 
and  they  turned  back  to  Iceland.  So  of 
those  thirty-five  ships  only  fifteen  got  to 
Greenland. 

"Only  the  bravest  and  the  luckiest 
men  come  here,"  Eric  said.  "We  shall 
have  good  neighbors." 

Soon  other  houses  were  built  along 
the  fiords. 

"It  is  pleasant  to  sail  along  the  coast 
now,"  said  Eric.  "I  see  smoke  rising 
from  houses  and  ships  standing  on  the 
shore  and  friendly  hands  waving." 


Leif  and  His  New  Land 

NOW  Eric  had  lived  in  Greenland  for 
fifteen  years.  His  sons  Thorstein 
and  Leif  had  grown  up  to  be  big,  strong 
men.    One  spring  Leif  said  to  his  father  : 

"I  have  never  seen  Norway,  our 
mother  land.  I  long  to  go  there  and 
meet  the  great  men  and  see  the  places 
that  skalds  sing  about." 

Eric  answered  : 

"It  is  right  that  you  should  go.  No 
man  has  really  lived  until  he  has  seen 
Norway." 

So  he  helped  Leif  fit  out  a  boat  and 
sent  him  off.  Leif  sailed  for  months. 
He  passed  Iceland  and  the  Faroes  and 
the  Shetlands.  He  stopped  at  all  of  these 
places  and  feasted  his  mind  on  the  new 
things.  And  everywhere  men  received 
him  gladly;  for  he  was  handsome  and 
wise.  But  at  last  he  came  near  Norway. 
Then  he  stood  up  before  the  pilot's  seat 
and  sang  loudly: 

11  161 


162  Viking  Tales 

"  My  eyes  can  see  her  at  last, 

The  mother  of  mighty  men, 

The  field  of  famous  fights. 

In  the  sky  above  I  see 

Fair  Asgard's  shining  roofs, 

The  flying  hair  of  Thor, 

The  wings  of  Odin's  birds, 

The  road  that  heroes  tread. 

I  am  here  in  the  land  of  the  gods, 

The  land  of  mighty  men." 

For  a  while  he  walked  the  land  as 
though  he  were  in  a  dream.  He  looked 
at  this  and  that  and  everything  and  loved 
them  all  because  it  was  Norway. 

"I  will  go  to  the  king,"  he  said. 

He  had  never  seen  a  king.  There 
were  no  kings  in  Iceland  or  in  Greenland. 
So  he  went  to  the  city  where  the  king 
had  his  fine  house.  The  king's  name 
\vas  Olaf.  He  was  a  great-grandson  of 
Harald  Hairfair ;  for  Harald  had  been 
dead  a  hundred  years. 

Now  the  king  wras  going  to  hold  a 
feast  at  night,  and  Leif  put  on  his  most 
beautiful  clothes  to  go  to  it.  He  put  on 
long  tights  of  blue  wool  and  a  short  jacket 
of  blue  velvet.  He  belted  his  jacket  with 
a  gold  girdle.      He  had  shoes  of  scarlet 


West- Over -Seas  i6j 

with  golden  clasps.  He  threw  around 
himself  a  cape  of  scarlet  velvet  lined 
with  seal  fur.  His  long  sword  stuck  out 
from  under  his  cloak.  On  his  head  he 
put  a  knitted  cap  of  bright  colors.  Then 
he  walked  to  the  king's  feast  hall  and 
went  through  the  door.  It  was  a  great 
hall,  and  it  was  full  of  richly-dressed 
men.  The  fires  shone  on  so  many  golden 
head-bands  and  bracelets  and  so  many 
glittering  swords  and  spears  on  the  wall, 
and  there  was  so  much  noise  of  talking 
and  laughing,  that  at  first  Leif  did  not 
know  what  to  do.  But  at  last  he  went 
and  sat  on  the  very  end  seat  of  the  bench 
near  him. 

As  the  feast  went  on,  King  Olaf  sat  in 
his  high  seat  and  looked  about  the  hall 
and  noticed  this  one  and  that  one  and 
spoke  across  the  fire  to  many.  He  was 
keen-eyed  and  soon  saw  Leif  in  his  far 
seat. 

"Yonder  is  some  man  of  mark,"  he  said 
to  himself.  "He  is  surely  worth  know- 
ing. His  face  is  not  the  face  of  a  fool.  He 
carries  his  head  like  a  lord  of  men." 

He  sent  a  thrall   and   asked   Leif  to 


164  Viking  Tales 

come  to  him.  So  Leif  walked  down  the 
long  hall  and  stood  before  the  king. 

"I  am  glad  to  have  you  for  a  guest," 
the  king  said.  "What  are  your  name 
and  country?" 

' '  I  am  Leif  Ericsson,  and  I  have  come 
all  the  way  from  Greenland  to  see  you 
and  old  Norway." 

' '  From  Greenland ! "  said  the  king.  '  'It 
is  not  often  that  I  see  a  Greenlander. 
Many  come  to  Norway  to  trade,  but  they 
seldom  come  to  the  king's  hall.  I  shall 
be  glad  to  hear  about  your  land.  Come 
up  and  speak  with  me." 

So  Leif  went  up  the  steps  of  the  high 
seat  and  sat  down  by  the  king  and  talked 
with  him.  When  the  feast  was  over  the 
king  said  : 

' '  You  shall  live  at  vclj  court  this  winter, 
Leif  Ericsson.   You  are  a  welcome  guest. " 

So  Leif  stayed  there  that  winter. 
When  he  started  back  in  the  spring,  the 
king  gave  him  two  thralls  as  a  parting 
gift. 

"Let  this  gift  show  my  love,  Leif 
Ericsson,"  he  said.  "For  your  sake  I 
shall  not  forget  Greenland." 


West- Over -Seas  165 

Leif  sailed  back  again  and  had  good 
luck  until  lie  was  past  Iceland.  Then 
great  winds  came  out  of  the  north  and 
tossed  his  ship  about  so  that  the  men 
could  do  nothing.  They  were  blown 
south  for  da}Ts  and  days.  They  did  not 
know  where  they  were.  Then  they  saw 
land,  and  Leif  said  : 

' '  Surely  luck  has  brought  us  also  to  a 
new  country.  We  will  go  in  and  see 
what  kind  of  a  place  it  is." 

So  he  steered  for  it.  As  they  came 
near,  the  men  said  : 

"See  the  great  trees  and  the  soft,  green 
shore.  Surely  this  is  a  better  country 
than  Greenland  or  than  Iceland  either." 

When  they  landed  they  threw  them- 
selves upon  the  ground. 

"I  never  lay  on  a  bed  so  soft  as  this 
grass,"  one  said. 

' '  Taller  trees  do  not  grow  in  Norway," 
said  another. 

"There  is  no  stone  here  as  in  Nor- 
way, but  only  good  black  dirt,"  Leif  said. 
"1  never  saw  so  fertile  a  land  before." 

The  men  were  hungry  and  set  about 
building  a  fire. 


1 66  Viking  Tales 

"There  is  no  lack  of  fuel  here,"  the} 
said. 

They  stayed  many  days  in  this  coun- 
try and  walked  about  to  see  what  was 
there.  A  German,  named  Tyrker,  was 
with  Leif.  He  was  a  little  man  with  a 
high  forehead  and  a  short  nose.  His 
eyes  were  big  and  rolling.  He  had  lived 
with  Eric  for  many  years,  and  had  taken 
care  of  Leif  when  he  was  a  little  boy.  So 
Leif  loved  him. 

Now  one  &&y  they  had  been  wander- 
ing about  and  all  came  back  to  camp  at 
night  except  Tyrker.  When  Leif  looked 
around  on  his  comrades,  he  said  : 

"Where  is  Tyrker?" 

No  one  knew.     Then  Leif  was  angry. 

"Is  a  man  of  so  little  value  in  this 
empty  land  that  you  would  lose  one?"  he 
said.  "Why  did  you  not  keep  together? 
Did  you  not  see  that  he  was  gone?  Why 
did  you  not  set  out  to  look  for  him? 
Who  knows  what  terrible  thing  may 
have  happened  to  him  in  these  great 
forests?" 

Then  he  turned  and  started  out  to 
hunt  for  him.     His  men  followed,  silent 


"//e  pointed  to  the  woods  and  laughed  and  rolled  Ins  eyes" 


1 68  Viking  Tales 


6> 


and  ashamed.  They  had  not  gone  far 
when  they  saw  T}rrker  running  toward 
them.  He  was  laughing  and  talking  to 
himself.  Leif  ran  to  him  and  put  his 
arms  about  him  with  gladness  at  seeing 
him. 

"Why  are  }rou  so  late?"  he  asked. 
"Where  have  you  been?" 

But  T}rrker,  still  smiling  and  nod- 
ding his  head,  answered  in  German.  He 
pointed  to  the  woods  and  laughed  and 
rolled  his  eyes.  Again  Leif  asked  his 
question  and  put  his  hand  on  Tyrker's 
shoulder  as  though  he  would  shake  him. 
Then  Tyrker  answered  in  the  language 
of  Iceland  : 

' '  I  have  not  been  so  very  far,  but  I 
have  found  something  wonderful." 

"  What  is  it?"  cried  the  men. 

"I  have  found  grapes  growing  wild," 
answered  T}n~ker,  and  he  laughed,  and  his 
eyes  shone. 

"  It  cannot  be,"  Leif  said. 

Grapes  do  not  grow  in  Greenland  nor 
in  Iceland  nor  even  in  Norway.  So  it 
seemed  a  wonderful  thing  to  these  Norse- 
men. 


West- Over-Seas  r6g 

' '  Can  I  not  tell  grapes  when  I  see 
them?"  cried  Tyrker.  "Did  I  not  grow 
up  in  Germany,  where  every  hillside  is 
covered  with  grapevines  ?  Ah  !  it  seems 
like  my  old  home." 

"It  is  wonderful,"  Leif  said.  "  I  have 
heard  travelers  tell  of  seeing  grapes  grow- 
ing, but  I  myself  never  saw  it.  You  shall 
take  us  to  them  early  in  the  morning, 
Tyrker." 

So  in  the  morning  they  went  back  into 
the  woods  and  saw  the  grapes.  They  ate 
of  them. 

"They  are  like  food  and  drink,"  they 
cried. 

That  day  Leif  said  : 

"  We  spent  most  of  the  summer  on  the 
ocean.  Winter  will  soon  be  coming  on 
and  the  sea  about  Greenland  will  be 
frozen.  We  must  start  back.  I  mean  to 
take  some  of  the  things  of  this  land  to 
show  to  our  people  at  home.  We  will 
fill  the  rowboat  with  grapes  and  tow  it 
behind  us.  The  ship  we  will  load  with 
logs  from  these  great  trees.  That  will  be 
a  welcome  shipload  in  Greenland,  where 
we  have  neither  trees  nor  vines.     Now 


i/o  Vi  k  i  ng   Ta  le  s 

half  of  you  shall  gather  grapes  for  the 
next  few  days,  and  the  other  half  shall 
cut  timber." 

So  they  did,  and  after  a  week  sailed  off. 
The  ship  was  full  of  lumber,  and  they 
towed  the  rowboat  loaded  with  grapes. 
As  they  looked  back  a-t  the  shore,  Leif 
said  : 

' '  I  will  call  this  country  Wineland  for 
the  grapes  that  grow  there." 

One  of  the  men  leaped  upon  the  gun- 
wale and  leaned  out,  clinging  to  the  sail, 
and  sang : 

"Wineland  the  good,  Wineland  the  warm, 
Wineland  the  green,  the  great,  the  fat. 
Our  dragon  fed  and  crawls  away 
With  belly  stuffed  and  lazy  feet. 
How  long  her  purple,  trailing  tail ! 
She  fed  and  grew  to  twice  her  size." 

Then  all  the  men  waved  their  hands 
to  the  shore  and  gave  a  great  shouf  for 
that  good  land. 

For  all  that  voyage  they  had  fair 
weather  and  sailed  into  Eric's  harbor 
before  the  winter  came.  Eric  saw  the 
ship  and  ran  down  to  the  shore.  He  took 
Leif  into  his  arms  and  said  : 


West-Over-Seas  iyi 

' '  Oh,  my  son,  my  old  eyes  ached  to  see 
you.  I  hunger  to  hear  of  all  that  you 
have  seen  and  done." 

"Luck  has  followed  me  all  the  way," 
said  Leif.  "See  what  I  have  brought 
home." 

The  Greenlanders  looked. 

"Lumber!  lumber!  "  they  cried.  "Oh! 
it  is  better  stuff  than  gold." 

Then  they  saw  the  grapes  and  tasted 
them. 

4 '  Surely  you  must  have  plundered  As- 
gard,"  they  said,  smacking  their  lips. 

At  the  feast  that  night  Eric  said  : 

"Leif  shall  sit  in  the  place  of  honor." 

So  Leif  sat  in  the  high  seat  opposite 
Eric.  All  men  thought  him  a  handsome 
and  wise  man.  He  told  them  of  the  storm 
and  of  Wineland. 

"No  man  would  ever  need  a  cloak  there. 
The  soil  is  richer  than  the  soil  of  Norway. 
Grain  grows  wild,  and  you  j^ourselves  saw 
the  grapes  that  we  got  from  there.  The 
forests  are  without  end.  The  sea  is  full 
offish." 

The  Greenlanders  listened  with  open 
mouths   to   all   this.     They   turned   and 


1 7 2  I  ri k  i ng  Ta  les 

talked  to  Leif's  ship-comrades  who  were 
scattered  among  them. 

Leif  noticed  two  strangers,  an  old 
man  who  sat  at  Eric's  side  and  a  young 
woman  on  the  cross-bench.  He  turned 
to  his  brother  Thorstein  who  sat  next 
to  him. 

"Who  are  these  strangers?"  he  asked. 

"Thorbiorn  and  his  daughter  Gudrid," 
Thorstein  answered.  ' '  They  landed  here 
this  spring.  I  never  saw  our  father  more 
glad  of  anything  than  to  see  this  Thor- 
biorn.  They  were  friends  before  we 
left  Iceland.  When  they  saw  each  other 
again  they  could  not  talk  enough  of  old 
times.  In  the  spring  Eric  means  to  give 
him  a  farm  up  the  fiord  a  way.  It  seems 
that  this  Thorbiorn  comes  of  a  good 
family  that  has  been  rich  and  great  in 
Iceland  for  years.  And  Thorbiorn  him- 
self Avas  rich  when  our  father  knew  him, 
and  was  much  honored  by  all  men.  But 
ill  luck  came,  and  he  grew  poor.  This 
hurt  his  pride.  'I  will  not  stay  in  Ice- 
land and  be  a  beggar,'  he  said  to  himself. 
'  I  will  not  have  men  look  at  me  and  say, 
"  He  is  not  what  his  father  was."     '  I  will 


West-Over-Seas  iyj 

go  to  my  friend  Eric  the  Red  in  Green- 
land.' 

' '  Then  he  got  ready  a  great  feast  and 
invited  all  his  friends.  It  was  such  a 
feast  as  had  not  been  in  Iceland  for  years. 
Thorbiorn  spent  on  it  all  the  wealth  that 
he  had  left.  For  he  said  to  himself, '  I  will 
not  leave  in  shame.  Men  shall  remem- 
ber my  last  feast.1  After  that  he  set  out 
and  came  to  Greenland. 

"Is  not  Gudrid  beautiful?  And  she  is 
wise.  I  mean  to  marry  her,  if  her  father 
will  permit  it." 

Now  Leif  settled  down  in  Greenland 
and  became  a  great  man  there.  He  was 
so  busy  and  he  grew  so  rich  that  he  did 
not  think  of  going  to  Wineland  again. 
But  people  could  not  forget  his  story. 
Many  nights  as  men  sat  about  the  long 
fires  they  talked  of  that  wonderful  land 
and  wished  to  see  it. 


Win  et  and   the    Good 


ON  an  autumn,  a  year  or  two  after 
Leif  came  home,  Eric  and  his  men 
saw  two  large  ships  come  to  land  not  far 
down  the  shore  from  the  house. 

"They  look  like  trading  ships,"  Eric 
said.     "Let  us  go  down  to  see  them." 

' '  I  will  go,  too, ' '  Gudrid  said.  ' '  Perhaps 
they  will  have  rich  cloth  and  jewelry.  It 
is  long  since  I  had  my  eyes  on  a  new 
dress." 

So  they  all  went  down  and  found  two 
large  trading  ships  lying  in  the  water. 
A  great  many  men  were  on  the  shore 
making  a  fire. 

"Welcome  to  Greenland  ! "  called  Eric. 
"What  are  your  names  and  your  coun- 
try?" 

Then  a  fine,  big  man  walked  out  from 
among  the  men  and  went  up  to  Eric. 

"I  am  Thorfinn,"  he  said,  "a  trader. 
I  sailed  this  summer  from  Iceland  with 
forty  men  and  a  shipload  of  goods.     On 

174 


l]rest-Over-Seas  175 

the  sea  I  met  this  other  ship  from  Ice- 
land. The  master  is  Biarni.  Come  and 
look  at  my  goods." 

So  he  rowed  Eric  and  Gudrid  out  and 
they  went  aboard  his  boat.  Thorfinn 
opened  his  chests  and  showed  Eric  gleam- 
ing swords  and  bracelets  and  axes  and 
farm  tools.  But  before  Gudrid  he  spread 
beautiful  cloth  and  gold  embroidery  and 
golden  necklaces.  As  they  looked,  he 
told  of  doings  in  Iceland  and  asked  of 
Greenland. 

' '  We  never  see  such  things  as  these 
in  this  bare  land,"  Gudrid  said,  as  she 
smoothed  a  beautiful  dress  of  purple  vel- 
vet. "  I  envy  the  women  of  Iceland  their 
fair  clothes." 

"There  is  no  need  of  that,"  Thorfinn 
said,  "for  this  dress  is  yours  and  any- 
thing else  from  my  chests  that  you  like. 
Here  is  a  necklace  that  I  beg  you  to  take. 
It  did  not  have  a  fairer  mistress  in  Greece 
where  I  got  it." 

"You  are  a  very  generous  trader," 
Gudrid  said. 

Then  Thorfinn  gave  Eric  a  great  sword 
with  a  gold-studded   scabbard.     After  a 


i y 6  Viking  Tales 

while  he  took  them  to  Biarni's  ship.  He 
also  gave  them  gifts.  They  all  talked 
and  laughed  much  while  they  were  to- 
gether. 

"  You  are  merry  comrades,"  Eric  said. 
1 '  I  ask  you  both  and  all  your  men  to  spend 
the  winter  at  my  house.  You  can  put 
your  goods  into  my  store-houses." 

"By  my  sword!  a  generous  offer," 
said  Thorrinn.  ' '  As  for  me,  I  am  happy 
to  come." 

Biarni  and  all  the  rest  said  the  same 
thing.  Thorrinn  walked  to  the  house 
with  Eric  and  Gudrid,  while  the  other 
men  sailed  to  the  ship-sheds  and  pulled 
their  boats  under  them. 

Then  Thorrinn  saw  to  the  unloading 
and  storing  of  his  goods. 

"Is  this  Gudrid  your  daughter?"  he 
asked  of  Eric  one  day. 

"She  is  the  widow  of  my  son  Thor- 
stein,"  Eric  said.  "He  died  the  same 
winter  that  they  were  married.  Her 
father,  too,  died  not  long  ago.  So  Gudrid 
lives  with  me." 

Now  all  that  winter  until  Yuletime 
Eric   spread   a   good   feast   every   night. 


Urest-  Over  -Seas  iyj 

There  was  laughter  through  his  house  all 
the  time.  Often  at  the  feasts  the  men 
cast  lots  to  see  whether  they  might  sit 
on  the  cross-bench  with  the  women. 
Sometimes  it  was  Thorfinn  s  luck  to  sit 
by  Gudrid.  Then  they  talked  gaity  and 
drank  together. 

At  last  Yule  was  coming  near.  Eric 
went  about  the  house  gloomy  then.  One 
day  Thorfinn  put  his  hand  on  Eric's 
shoulder  and  said  : 

"Something  is  troubling  you,  Eric. 
We  have  all  noticed  that  you  are  not  gay 
as  you  used  to  be.  Tell  me  what  is  the 
matter.'" 

' '  You  have  carried  yourselves  like 
noble  men  in  my  house,"  Eric  answered. 
"I  am  proud  to  have  you  for  guests. 
Now  I  am  ashamed  that  you  should  not 
find  a  house  worthy  of  you.  I  am 
ashamed  that  when  you  leave  me  you 
will  have  to  say  that  you  never  spent  a 
worse  Yule  than  you  did  with  Eric  the 
Red  in  Greenland.  For  my  cupboards 
are  empty." 

"Oh,  that  is  easily  mended,"  Thorfinn 
said.     "  No  house  could  feed  eighty  men 


i y 8  Viking  Talcs 

so  long  and  not  feel  it.  I  never  knew  so 
generous  a  host  before.  But  I  have  flour 
and  grain  and  mead  in  my  boat.  You 
are  welcome  to  all  of  it.  You  have  only 
to  open  the  doors  of  your  own  store- 
houses.    It  is  a  little  gift." 

So  Eric  used  those  things,  and  there 
was  never  a  merrier  Yule  feast  than  in 
his  house  that  winter. 

When  Yule  was  over,  Thorfmn  said  to 
Eric  : 

' '  Gudrid  is  a  beautiful  and  wise  woman. 
I  wish  to  have  her  for  my  wife." 

1 '  You  seem  to  be  a  man  worthy  of  her," 
Eric  said. 

So  that  winter  Gudrid  and  Thorfmn 
were  married  and  lived  at  Eric's  house. 

One  day  Thorfmn  said  to  Eric  : 

"I  have  heard  much  of  this  wonder- 
ful Wineland  since  I  have  been  here.  It 
seems  to  me  that  it  is  worth  while  to  go 
and  see  more  of  it." 

"My  son  Thorstein  and  I  tried  it 
once,"  said  Eric.  "It  was  the  year  after 
Leif  came  back.  We  set  out  with  a  fair 
ship  and  with  glad  hearts,  but  we  tossed 
about  all   summer   on   the   sea   and  got 


West- Over -Seas  iyg 

nowhere.  We  were  wet  with  storm,  lean 
with  hunger  and  illness,  and  heartsick  at 
our  bad  luck." 

"And  yet,"  Thorfinn  said,  "another 
time. we  might  have  better  weather.  I 
have  never  seen  so  fair  a  land  as  this 
seems  to  be." 

Then  he  went  to  Leif  and  talked  long 
with  him.  Leif  told  him  in  what  direc- 
tion he  had  sailed  to  come  home,  and  how 
the  shores  looked  that  he  had  passed. 

"I  think  I  could  find  my  way,"  Thor- 
finn said.  "My  heart  moves  me  to  try 
this  frolic." 

He  spoke  to  Gudrid  about  it. 

"Oh,  yes!"  she  cried.  "Let  us  go. 
It  is  long  since  I  felt  a  boat  leaping  under 
me.  I  am  tired  of  sitting  still.  I  want 
to  feel  the  warm  days  and  see  the  soft 
grass  and  the  high  trees  and  taste  the 
grapes  of  this  Wineland  the  Good." 

Then  he  talked  with  his  men  and  with 
Biarni. 

"We  are  ready,"  they  all  said.  "We 
are  only  waiting  for  a  leader." 

"Then  let  us  go  !"  cried  Thorfinn. 

So  in  the  spring  they  fitted  up  their 


180  Viking  Tales 

two  ships  and  put  into  them  provisions 
and  a  few  cattle.  Some  of  Eric's  men 
also  got  ready  a  boat,  so  that  three  ships 
set  sail  from  Eric's  harbor  carrying  one 
hundred  and  sixty  men  to  Wineland.  As 
they  started,  Gudrid  stood  on  the  deck 
and  sang : 

"  I  will  feast  my  eyes  on  new  things  — 
On  mighty  trees  and  purple  grapes, 
On  beds  of  flowers  and  soft  grass. 
I  will  sun  myself  in  a  warm  land." 

They  sailed  on  and  past  those  shores 
that  Leif  had  spoken  of.  Whenever  they 
saw  an)7  interesting  place  the}7  sailed  in 
and  looked  about  and  rested  there. 

They  had  gone  far  south,  past  many 
fair  shores  with  woods  on  them,  when 
Gudrid  said  one  day  : 

' '  This  is  a  beautiful  bay  with  a  smooth, 
green  field  by  it,  and  the  great  mountains 
far  back.  I  should  like  to  stay  there  for 
a  little  while." 

So  they  sailed  in  and  drew  their  ships 
up  on  shore.  They  put  up  the  awnings 
in  them. 

"These  shall  be  our  houses,"  Thorfmn 
said. 


West- Over -Seas  181 

The3^  were  strange-looking  houses  — 
shining  dragons  with  gay  backs  lying  on 
the  yellow  sand.  Near  them  the  Norse- 
men lighted  fires  and  cooked  their  supper. 
That  night  they  slept  in  the  ships.  In 
the  morning  Gudrid  said  : 

"I  long  to  see  what  is  back  of  that 
mountain." 

So  they  all  climbed  it.  When  they 
stood  on  the  top  they  could  see  far  over 
the  county. 

"There  is  a  lake  that  we  must  see," 
Thorfinn  said. 

"  I  should  like  to  sail  around  that  bay," 
said  Biarni,  pointing. 

' '  I  am  going  to  walk  up  that  valley 
yonder,"  one  of  the  men  said. 

And  everyone  saw  some  place  where 
he  would  like  to  go.  So  for  all  that  sum- 
mer they  camped  in  that  spot  and  went 
about  the  country  seeing  new  things. 
They  hunted  in  the  woods  and  caught 
rabbits  and  birds  and  sometimes  bears 
and  deer.  Every  day  some  men  rowed  out 
to  sea  and  fished.  There  was  an  island 
in  the  bay  where  thousands  of  birds  had 
their  nests.    The  men  gathered  eggs  here. 


182  Viking  Tales 

"  We  have  more  to  eat  than  we  had  in 
Greenland  or  Iceland,"  Thorfinn  said, 
"and  need  not  work  at  all.    It  is  all  play." 

Near  the  end  of  summer  Thorfinn 
spoke  to  his  comrades. 

' '  Have  we  not  seen  everything  here  ? 
Let  us  go  to  a  new  place.  We  have  not 
3Tet  found  grapes." 

Thorfinn  and  Biarni  and  all  their  men 
sailed  south  again.  But  some  of  Eric's 
men  went  off  in  their  boat  another  way. 
Years  afterward  the  Greenlanders  heard 
that  they  were  shipwrecked  and  made 
slaves  in  Ireland. 

After  Thorfinn  and  Biarni  had  sailed 
for  many  days  they  landed  on  a  low, 
green  place.  There  were  hills  around  it. 
A  little  lake  was  there. 

"  What  is  growing  on  those  hillsides?" 
Thorfinn  said,  shading  his  eyes  with  his 
hand. 

He  and  some  others  ran  up  there.  The 
people  on  shore  heard  them  shout.  Soon 
they  came  running  back  with  their  hands 
full  of  something. 

"Grapes!    Grapes!"  they  were  shout- 


West-Over-Seas  i8j 

All  those  people  sat  down  and  ate  the 
grapes  and  then  went  to  the  hillside  and 
picked  more. 

"Now  we  are  indeed  in  Wineland," 
they  said.  "It  is  as  wonderful  as  Leifs 
stories.  Surely  we  must  stay  here  for  a 
long  time." 

The  very  next  da}^  they  went  into  the 
woods  and  began  to  cut  out  lumber.  The 
huts  that  they  built  were  little  things. 
They  had  no  windows,  and  in  the  door- 
ways the  men  hung  their  cloaks  instead 
of  doors. 

"  We  can  be  out  in  the  air  so  much  in 
this  warm  country,"  said  Gudrid,  "that 
we  do  not  need  fine  houses." 

The  huts  were  scattered  all  about, 
some  on  the  side  of  the  lake,  some  at 
the  shore  of  the  harbor,  some  on  the  hill- 
side.    Gudrid  had  said  : 

"I  want  to  live  by  the  lake  where  I 
can  look  into  the  green  woods  and  hear 
sweet  bird-noises." 

So  Thorfinn  built  his  hut  there. 

As  they  sat  about  the  campfire  one 
night,  Biarni  said  : 

"It   is   strange   that   so   good   a   land 


1 8^  Viking  Tales 

should  be  empt}\  I  suppose  that  these 
are  the  first  houses  that  were  ever  built 
in  Wineland.  It  is  wonderful  to  think 
that  we  are  alone  here  in  this  great 
land." 

All  that  winter  no  snow  fell.  The 
cattle  pastured  on  the  grass. 

"To  think  of  the  cold,  frozen  winters 
in  Greenland!"  Gudrid  said.  "Oh!  this 
is  the  sun's  own  land." 

In  the  beginning  of  that  winter  a  little 
son  was  born  to  Gudrid  and  Thorfmn. 

"A  health  to  the  first  Winelander!" 
the  men  shouted  and  drank  down  their 
wine ;  for  they  had  made  some  from 
Wineland  grapes. 

"Will  he  be  the  father  of  a  great 
country,  as  Ingolf  was?"  Biarni  mused. 

Gudrid  looked  at  her  baby  and  smiled. 

"You  will  be  as  sunny  as  this  good 
land,  I  hope,"  she  said. 

They  named  him  Snorri.  He  grew 
fast  and  soon  crept  along  the  3rellow  sand, 
and  toddled  among  the  grapevines,  and 
climbed  into  the  boats  and  learned  to 
talk.  The  men  called  him  the  "Wine- 
land king." 


West- Over -Seas  185 

"I  never  knew  a  baby  before,"  one  of 
the  men  said. 

"  No,"  said  another.  "Swords  are  jeal- 
ous. But  when  they  are  in  their  scab- 
bards, we  can  do  other  things,  even  play 
with  babies." 

' '  I  wonder  whether  I  have  forgotten 
how  to  swing  my  sword  in  this  quiet 
land,"  another  man  said 

One  spring  morning  when  the  men 
got  up  and  went  out  from  their  huts  to 
the  fires  to  cook  they  saw  a  great  many 
canoes  in  the  harbor.  Men  were  in  them 
paddling  toward  shore. 

"What  is  this?"  cried  the  Norsemen 
to  one  another.  "Where  did  they  come 
from?  Are  they  foes?  Who  ever  saw  such 
boats  before?  The  men's  faces  are  brown." 

' '  Let  every  man  have  his  sword  ready, " 
cried  Thorfmn.  "  But  do  not  draw  until 
I  command.     Let  us  go  to  meet  them." 

So  they  went  and  stood  on  the  shore. 
Soon  the  men  from  the  canoes  landed 
and  stood  looking  at  the  Norsemen.  The 
strangers'  skin  was  brown.  Their  faces 
were  broad.  Their  hair  was  black.  Their 
bodies  were  short.      They  wore  leather 


1 86  Viking  Tales 


s 


clothes.  One  man  among  them  seemed 
to  be  chief.  He  spread  out  his  open  hands 
to  the  Norsemen. 

"He  is  showing  us  that  he  has  no 
weapons,"  Biarni  said.  "He  comes  in 
peace." 

Then  Thorfinn  showed  his  empty 
hands  and  asked  : 

' '  What  do  }tou  want  ? " 

The  stranger  said  something,  but  the 
Norsemen  could  not  understand.  It  was 
some  new  language.  Then  the  chief 
pointed  to  one  of  the  huts  and  walked 
toward  it.  He  and  his  men  walked  all 
around  it  and  felt  of  the  timber  and 
went  into  it  and  looked  at  all  the  things 
there  —  spades  and  cloaks  and  drinking- 
horns.  As  they  looked  they  talked  to- 
gether. They  went  to  all  the  other  huts 
and  looked  at  eveiything  there.  One  of 
them  found  a  red  cloak.  He  spread  it 
out  and  showed  it  to  the  others.  They 
all  stood  about  it  and  looked  at  it  and 
felt  of  it  and  talked  fast. 

"They  seem  to  like  my  cloak,"  Biarni 
said. 

One  of  the   strangers   went   dowm  to 


"The  chief  held  them  out  to  Thorfinn  and  hugged  the  cloak  to  him  " 


1 88  1 7  k  i  ng    Ta  le  s 

their  canoes  and  soon  came  back  with  an 
armload  of  furs  —  fox-skins,  otter-skins, 
beaver-skins.  The  chief  took  some  and 
held  them  out  to  Thorfinn  and  hugged 
the  cloak  to  him. 

"He  wants  to  trade,"  Thorfinn  said. 
"Will  you  do  it,  Biarni?" 

"Yes,"  Biarni  answered,  and  took  the 
furs. 

"If  they  want  red  stuff,  I  have  a  whole 
roll  of  red  cloth  that  I  will  trade,"  one  of 
the  other  men  said. 

He  went  and  got  it.  When  the  stran- 
gers saw  it  they  quickly  held  out  more  furs 
and  seemed  eager  to  trade.  So  Thorfinn 
cut  the  cloth  into  pieces  and  sold  every 
scrap.  When  the  strangers  got  it  they 
tied  it  about  their  heads  and  seemed 
much  pleased. 

While  this  trading  was  going  on  and 
everybody  was  good-natured,  a  bull  of 
Thorfinn' s  ran  out  of  the  woods  bellow- 
ing and  came  towards  the  crowd.  When 
the  strangers  heard  it  and  saw  it  they 
threw  down  whatever  was  in  their  hands 
and  ran  to  their  canoes  and  paddled  off 
as  fast  as  they  could. 


West-Over-Seas  i8g 

The  Norsemen  laughed. 

"We  have  lost  our  customers,"  Biarni 
said. 

"Did  they  never  see  a  bull  before?" 
laughed  one  of  the  men. 

Now  after  three  weeks  the  Norsemen 
saw  canoes  in  the  bay  again.  This  time 
it  was  black  with  them,  there  were  so 
man}^.  The  people  in  them  were  all  mak- 
ing a  horrible  shout. 

"  It  is  a  war-cry,"  Thorfinn  said,  and  he 
raised  a  red  shield.  "  The}^  are  surely 
twenty  to  our  one,  but  we  must  fight. 
Stand  in  close  line  and  give  them  a  taste 
of  your  swords." 

Even  as  he  spoke  a  great  shower  of 
stones  fell  upon  them.  Some  of  the 
Norsemen  were  hit  on  the  head  and 
knocked  down.  Biarni  got  a  broken 
arm.  Still  the  storm  came  fast.  The 
strangers  had  landed  and  were  running 
toward  the  Norsemen.  They  threw  their 
stones  with  sling-shots,  and  they  yelled 
all  the  time. 

"Oh,  this  is  no  kind  of  fighting  for 
brave  men  ! "  Thorfinn  cried  angrily. 

The  Norsemen's  swords  swung  fast, 


i go  Viki  n g  Ta  le  s 

and  many  of  the  strangers  died  under 
them,  but  still  others  came  on,  throwing 
stones  and  swinging  stone  axes.  The  hor- 
rible yelling  and  the  strange  things  that 
the  savages  did  frightened  the  Norsemen. 

"These  are  not  men,"  some  one  cried. 

Then  those  Norsemen  who  had  never 
been  afraid  of  anything  turned  and  ran. 
But  when  they  came  to  the  top  of  a  rough 
hill  Thorfinn  cried  : 

"What  are  we  doing?  Shall  we  die 
here  in  this  empty  land  with  no  one  to 
bury  us?     We  are  leaving  our  women." 

Then  one  of  the  women  ran  out  of  the 
hut  where  they  were  hiding. 

' '  Give  me  a  sword  ! "  she  cried.  ' '  I  can 
drive  them  back.  Are  Norsemen  not 
better  than  these  savages?" 

Then  those  warriors  stopped,  ashamed, 
and  stood  up  before  the  wild  men  and 
fought  so  fiercely  that  the  strangers 
turned  and  fled  down  to  their  canoes  and 
paddled  away. 

"  Oh,  I  am  glad  they  are  gone  !"  Thor- 
finn said.     "  It  was  an  ugly  fight." 

"Thor  would  not  have  loved  that 
battle,"  one  said. 


West- Over-Seas  igi 

"It  was  no  battle,"  another  replied. 
' '  It  was  like  fighting  against  an  army  of 
poisonous  flies." 

The  Norsemen  were  all  worn  and 
bleeding  and  sore.  They  went  to  their 
huts  and  dressed  their  wounds,  and  the 
women  helped  them.  At  supper  that 
night  they  talked  about  the  fight  for  a 
long  time. 

"I  will  not  stay  here,"  Gudrid  said. 
' '  Perhaps  these  wild  men  have  gone  away 
to  get  more  people  and  will  come  back 
and  kill  us.     Oh  !  they  are  ugly." 

' '  Perhaps  brown  faces  are  looking  at  us 
now  from  behind  the  trees  in  the  woods 
back  there,"  said  Biarni. 

It  was  the  wish  of  all  to  go  home.  So 
after  a  few  days  they  sailed  back  to 
Greenland  with  good  weather  all  the  way. 
The  people  at  Eric's  house  were  very  glad 
to  see  them. 

"We  were  afraid  you  had  died,"  they 
said. 

"And  I  thought  once  that  we  should 
never  leave  Wineland  alive,"  Thorfinn 
answered. 

Then  they  told  all  the  story. 


i Q2  Viking  Tales 

"I  wonder  why  I  had  no  such  bad 
luck,"  Leif  said.  "But  you  have  a  better 
shipload  than  I  got." 

He  was  looking  at  the  bundles  of  furs 
and  the  kegs  of  wine. 

"Yes,"  said  Thorfinn,  "we  have  come 
back  richer  than  when  we  left.  But  I  will 
never  go  again  for  all  the  skins  in  the 
woods." 

The  next  summer  Thorfinn  took  Gud- 
rid  and  Snorri  and  all  his  people  and 
sailed  back  to  Iceland,  his  home.  There 
he  lived  until  he  died.  People  looked  at 
him  in  wonder. 

' '  That  is  the  man  who  went  to  Wine= 
land  and  fought  with  wild  men,"  they 
said.  "  Snorri  is  his  son.  He  is  the  first 
and  last  Winelander,  for  no  one  will  ever 
go  there  again.  It  will  be  an  empty  and 
forgotten  land." 

And  so  it  was  for  a  long  time.  Some 
wise  men  wrote  down  the  story  of  those 
voyages  and  of  that  land,  and  people  read 
the  tale  and  liked  it,  but  no  one  remem- 
bered where  the  place  was.  It  all  seemed 
like  a  fairy  tale.  Long  afterwards,  how- 
ever, men  begaii  to  read  those  stories  with 


West- Over -Seas  igj 

wide-open  eyes  and  to  wonder.  They 
guessed  and  talked  together,  and  studied 
this  and  that  land,  and  read  the  story 
over  and  over.  At  last  they  have  learned 
that  Wineland  was  in  America,  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  United  States,  and 
they  have  called  Snorri  the  first  Amer- 
ican, and  have  put  up  statues  of  Leif 
Ericsson,  the  first  comer  to  America.* 


See  note  about  Eskimos  on  page  199. 


Descriptive  Notes 


House.  In  a  rich  Norseman's  home  were  many 
buildings.  The  finest  and  largest  was  the  great 
feast  hall.  Next  were  the  bower,  where  the  women 
worked,  and  the  guest  house,  where  visitors  slept. 
Besides  these  were  storehouses,  stables,  work-shops, 
a  kitchen,  a  sleeping-house  for  thralls.  All  these 
buildings  were  made  of  heavy,  hewn  logs,  covered 
with  tar  to  fill  the  cracks  and  to  keep  the  wood  from 
rotting.  The  ends  of  the  logs,  the  door-posts,  the 
peaks  of  gables,  were  carved  into  shapes  of  men  and 
animals  and  were  painted  with  bright  colors.  These 
gay  buildings  were  close  together,  often  set  around 
the  four  sides  of  a  square  yard.  That  yard  was  a 
busy  and  pleasant  place,  with  men  and  women  run- 
ning across  from  one  bright  building  to  another. 
Sometimes  a  high  fence  with  one  gate  went  around 
all  this,  and  only  the  tall,  carved  peaks  of  roofs 
showed  from  the  outside. 

Names.  An  old  Norse  story  says  :  "  Most  men 
had  two  names  in  one,  and  thought  it  likeliest  to  lead 
to  long  life  and  good  luck  to  have  double  names." 
To  be  called  after  a  god  was  very  lucky.  Here  are 
some  of  those  double  names  with  their  meanings : 
"Thorstein"  means  Thor's  stone;  "Thorkel"  means 
Thor's  fire  ;  "  Thorbiorn  "  means  Thor's  bear ;  "  Gud- 
brand"  means  Gunnr's  sword  (Gunnr  was  one  of 
the  Valkyrias*) ;  "Gunnbiorn"  means  Gunnr's  bear  ; 


♦  See  note  about  Valkyrias  on  page  15 
194 


Descriptive  Notes  ig$ 

"Gudrid"  means  Gunnr's  rider;  "Gudrod"  means 
Gunnr's  land-clearer.  (Most  of  the  land  in  old 
Norway  was  covered  with  forests.  When  a  man  got 
new  land  he  had  to  clear  off  the  trees.)  In  those 
olden  days  a  man  did  not  have  a  surname  that 
belonged  to  everyone  in  his  family.  Sometimes 
there  were  two  or  three  men  of  the  same  name  in  a 
neighborhood.  That  caused  trouble.  People  thought 
of  two  ways  of  making  it  easy  to  tell  which  man  was 
being  spoken  of.  Each  was  given  a  nickname.  Sup- 
pose the  name  of  each  was  Haki.  One  would  be 
called  Haki  the  Black  because  he  had  black  hair. 
The  other  would  be  called  Haki  the  Ship-chested 
because  his  chest  was  broad  and  strong.  These  nick- 
names were  often  given  only  for  the  fun  of  it.  Most 
men  had  them,  —  Eric  the  Red,  Leif  the  Lucky, 
Harald  Hairfair,  Rolf  Go-afoot.  The  other  way  of 
knowing  one  Haki  from  the  other  was  to  tell  his 
father's  name.  One  was  Haki,  Eric's  son.  The 
other  was  Haki,  Halfdan's  son.  If  you  speak  these 
names  quickly,  they  sound  like  Haki  Ericsson  and 
Haki  Halfdansson.  After  a  while  they  were  written 
like  that,  and  men  handed  them  on  to  their  sons  and 
daughters.  Some  names  that  we  have  nowadays 
have  come  down  to  us  in  just  that  way — Swanson, 
Anderson,  Peterson,  Jansen.  There  was  another 
reason  for  these  last  names :  a  man  was  proud  to 
have  people  know  who  his  father  was. 

Drinking-horns.  The  Norsemen  had  few  cups 
or  goblets.  They  used  instead  the  horns  of  cattle, 
polished  and  trimmed  with  gold  or  silver  or  bronze. 
They  were  often  very  beautiful,  and  a  man  was 


iq6  Viking  Tales 

almost  as  proud  of  his  drinking-horn  as  of  his 
sword. 

Tables.  Before  a  meal  thralls  brought  trestles 
into  the  feast  hall  and  set  them  before  the  benches. 
Then  they  laid  long  boards  across  from  trestle  to 
trestle.  These  narrow  tables  stretched  all  along  both 
sides  of  the  hall.  People  sat  at  the  outside  edge 
only.  So  the  thralls  served  from  the  middle  of  the 
room.  They  put  baskets  of  bread  and  wooden  plat- 
ters of  meat  upon  these  bare  boards.  At  the  end  of 
the  meal  they  carried  out  tables  and  all,  and  the 
drinking-horns  went  round  in  a  clean  room. 

Beds.  Around  the  sides  of  the  feast  hall  were 
shut-beds.  They  were  like  big  boxes  with  doors 
opening  into  the  hall.  On  the  floor  of  this  box  was 
straw  with  blankets  thrown  over  it.  The  people  got 
into  these  beds  and  closed  the  doors  and  so  shut 
themselves  in.  Olaf's  men  could  have  set  heavy 
things  against  these  doors  or  have  put  props  against 
them.  Then  the  people  could  not  have  got  out;  for  on 
the  other  side  of  the  bed  was  the  thick  outside  wall 
of  the  feast  hall,  and  there  were  no  windows  in  it. 

Feast  Hall.  The  feast  hall  was  long  and  narrow, 
with  a  door  at  each  end.  Down  the  middle  of  the 
room  were  flat  stones  in  the  dirt  floor.  Here  the 
fires  burned.  In  the  roof  above  these  fires  were 
holes  for  the  smoke  to  go  out,  but  some  of  it  blew 
about  the  hall,  and  the  walls  and  rafters  were  stained 
with  it.  But  it  was  pleasant  wood  smoke,  and  the 
Norsemen  did  not  dislike  it.  There  were  no  large 
windows  in  a  feast  hall  or  in  any  other  Norse  building. 
High  up  under  the  eaves  or  in  the  roof  itself  were 


Descriptive  Notes  igy 

narrow  slits  that  were  called  wind's-eyes.  There  was 
no  glass  in  them,  for  the  Norsemen  did  not  know 
how  to  make  it;  but  there  were,  instead,  covers  made 
of  thin,  oiled  skin.  These  were  put  into  the  wind's- 
eyes  in  stormy  weather.  There  were  covers,  too,  for 
the  smoke-holes.  The  only  light  came  through  these 
narrow  holes,  so  on  dark  da)^s  the  people  needed  the 
fire  as  much  for  light  as  for  warmth. 

Foster-father.  A  Norse  father  sent  his  children 
away  from  home  to  grow  up.  They  went  when  they 
were  three  or  four  years  old  and  stayed  until  they 
were  grown.  The  father  thought :  "  They  will  be 
better  so.  If  they  stayed  at  home,  their  mother 
would  spoil  them  with  much  petting." 

Foster-brothers.  When  two  men  loved  each 
other  very  much  they  said,  "Let  us  become  foster- 
brothers." 

Then  they  went  and  cut  three  long  pieces  of  turf 
and  put  a  spear  into  the  ground  so  that  it  held  up 
the  strips  of  turf  like  an  arch.  Runes  were  cut  on 
the  handle  of  the  spear,  telling  the  duties  of  foster- 
brothers.  The  two  men  walked  under  this  arch,  and 
each  made  a  little  cut  in  his  palm.  They  knelt  and 
clasped  hands,  so  that  the  blood  of  the  two  flowed 
together,  and  they  said,  "  Now  we  are  of  one  blood." 

Then  each  made  this  vow :  "  I  will  fight  for  my 
foster-brother  whenever  he  shall  need  me.  If  he  is 
killed  before  I  am,  I  will  punish  the  man  who  did  it. 
Whatever  things  I  own  are  as  much  my  foster- 
brother's  as  mine.  I  will  love  this  man  until  I  die. 
I  call  Odin  and  Thor  and  all  the  gods  to  hear  my 
vow.     May  they  hate  me  if  I  break  it !  " 


iq8  Viking  Tales 

Ran.  Ran  was  the  wife  of  Aegir,  who  was  god 
of  the  sea.  They  lived  in  a  cave  at  the  bottom  of 
the  ocean.  Ran  had  a  great  net,  and  she  caught  in 
it  all  men  who  were  shipwrecked  and  took  them  to 
her  cave.  She  also  caught  all  the  gold  and  rich 
treasures  that  went  down  in  ships.  So  her  cave  was 
filled  with  shining  things. 

Valkyrias.  These  were  the  maidens  of  Odin. 
They  waited  on  the  table  in  Valhalla.  But  when- 
ever a  battle  was  being  fought  they  rode  through 
the  air  on  their  horses  and  watched  to  see  what 
warriors  were  brave  enough  to  go  to  Valhalla.  Some- 
times during  the  fight  a  man  would  think  that  he 
saw  the  Valkyrias.  Then  he  was  glad ;  for  he  knew 
that  he  would  go  to  Valhalla. 

An  old  Norse  story  says  this  about  the  Valkyrias: 
"With  lightning  around  them,  with  bloody  shirts  of 
mail,  and  with  shining  spears  they  ride  through  the 
air  and  the  ocean.  When  their  horses  shake  their 
manes,  dew  falls  on  the  deep  valleys  and  hail  on  the 
high  forests." 

Odin's  Ravens.  Odin  had  a  great  throne  in  his 
palace  in  Asgard.  When  he  sat  in  it  he  could  look 
all  over  the  world.  But  it  was  so  far  to  see  that  he 
could  not  tell  all  of  the  things  that  were  happening. 
So  he  had  two  ravens  to  help  him.  An  old  Norse 
story  tells  this  about  them:  "Two  ravens  sit  on 
Odin's  shoulders  and  whisper  in  his  ears  all  that  they 
have  heard  and  seen.  He  sends  them  out  at  dawn 
of  day  to  see  over  the  whole  world.  They  return  at 
evening  near  meal  time.  This  is  why  Odin  knows 
so  many  things." 


Descriptive  Notes  igg 

Reykjavik.  Reykjavik  means  "smoky  sea."  Ingolf 
called  it  that  because  of  the  steaming  hot-springs  by 
the  sea.  The  place  is  still  called  Reykjavik.  A  little 
city  has  grown  up  there,  the  only  city  in  Iceland.  It 
is  the  capital  of  the  country. 

Peace-bands.  A  Norseman  always  carried  his 
sword,  even  at  a  feast ;  for  he  did  not  know  when  he 
might  need  it.  But  when  he  went  somewhere  on  an 
errand  of  peace  and  had  no  quarrel  he  tied  his  sword 
into  its  scabbard  with  white  bands  that  he  called 
peace-bands.  If  all  at  once  something  happened  to 
make  him  need  his  sword,  he  broke  the  peace-bands 
and  drew  it  out. 

Eskimos.  Now,  the  Eskimos  live  in  Greenland 
and  Alaska  and  on  the  very  northern  shores  of 
Canada.  But  once  they  lived  farther  south  in  pleas- 
anter  lands.  After  a  while  the  other  Indian  tribes 
began  to  grow  strong.  Then  they  wanted  the  pleas- 
ant land  of  the  Eskimos  and  the  seashore  that  the 
Eskimos  had.  So  they  fought  again  and  again  with 
those  people  and  won  and  drove  them  farther  north 
and  farther  north.  At  last  the  Eskimos  were  on 
the  very  shores  of  the  cold  sea,  with  the  Indians  still 
pushing  them  on.  So  some  of  them  got  into  their 
boats  and  rowed  across  the  narrow  water  and  came 
to  Greenland  and  lived  there.  Some  people  think 
that  these  things  happened  before  Eric  found  Green- 
land. In  that  case  he  found  Eskimos  there  ;  and 
Thorfmn  saw  red  Indians  in  Wineland.  Other  people 
think  that  this  happened  after  Eric  went  to  Green- 
land. If  that  is  true,  he  found  an  empty  land,  and 
it  was  Eskimos  that  Thorfinn  saw  in  Wineland. 


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